Hideous Cygnus
by savannavansmutsmut
Summary: Edward is fresh out of military school, Bella is the ugly geek that catches his eye. Can she eventually save him from himself, and will he be what she wants? Will the rest ever see the beauty within the Hideous Cygnus?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 A different kind of normal.

BPOV

I was normal, really I was.

At least that was what I kept telling myself. But somehow, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I didn't have something wrong with me, something that made me more abnormal than I already looked. Was it normal for a girl my age to be so…horny?

When I went in for my female checkup, I asked my doctor if there was any way to turn my hormones down. She smiled at me kindly and told me no, but I would outgrow this phase in a few years. She may or may not have told me to take part in some much needed self-pleasuring, but of course, that wasn't my style. Besides, just because I had been on birth control since I was fourteen didn't mean I knew anything about how to handle myself personally. So basically, I was a live wire of horny, so much so that even Mike Newton was looking good.

Chess could be sexy, right?

See, the problem was, I wasn't sexy myself. I was not hot, that was obvious by the fact that no males at my school had ever noticed me or attempted to approach me. The only reason I would even consider Mike was, well, I was in the chess club, too.

*Sigh*

I had been going back and forth between exploring myself further and asking Mike for help. I knew he had his eye on Jessica, though, and I didn't think I really had a chance. Even chess nerds had some standards.

I pushed up my thick glasses and checked my braces for salad in the bathroom mirror and then combed my frizzy bangs smooth, double checking the hair clip holding the rest of my long hair back. Dang, the humidity here made it hard to keep my hair looking decent some days.

I was giving a presentation today in biology and I would not make the same mistake as last year, when I spent the whole second half of school sporting spinach in my teeth. I had been adamant about checking ever since. I eyed the giant zit on my chin and considered popping it. It looked about ready to burst on its own, so I quickly grabbed some tissue paper and pinched it, being careful not to get the zit causing bacteria on my skin. Of course, now it was red, swollen, and bleeding. I applied pressure in hopes to quell the bleeding, but when I looked at my watch, I saw that I was going to be late. I was going to have to run down the hallways with tissue on my face.

I headed for the door but it swung open quickly, slamming into me hard, throwing me back across the small bathroom and onto the floor. My chin was burning with pain. I heard giggling and then a worried gasp.

"Oh, just leave her, Alice, she's fine," Lauren whined.

"She's bleeding!" Alice, whom I had only ever seen once or twice in passing, squealed.

"Isn't she always? She's so disgusting. Don't touch her!" Lauren shouted at her but Alice came to my side with a wad of paper towels.

"Are you okay? Is anything broken?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, her face!" Lauren laughed. "No wait, it always looks like that."

"Just shut up already if you're not going to help!" Alice growled. I was actually surprised that she was even talking to me. I just nodded and cringed.

"Let's get you to the nurse. Can you stand?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, really. I, um, have to go," I mumbled out and looked at my watch. I clenched the wad she had on my chin in my hand, hoping to stop the bleeding before my presentation.

As I was running down the hall, I noticed my glasses were sitting wonky on my face. I was sure the frame was bent. I scrambled over to my desk in the front middle row and ignored the giggling. I was sure I probably had toilet paper on my back or something, but at this point I didn't care. I just wanted to get this presentation over with and get home.

Angela, who was sitting next to me, saw the bloody paper in my hand and offered me a wipe. "Door?" she asked. I nodded yes.

She was nice to me because she had to be. My parents attended her father's church and frequently complained that I was not fitting in, so she was assigned to be kind to me. Really, it was pretty pathetic, but I would take what I could get at this point.

"Thanks," I mumbled and gently moved the paper towel and carefully dabbed at the cut I was now sporting. At least it camouflaged the zit. She passed me a little mirror and I could see a two-inch gash on my chin. I cringed, but I had gotten it to stop bleeding and cleaned up all the smeared blood thanks to Angie's wipe. I took a moment and looked at my glasses, trying to bend them into the right position, but it wasn't working. They were almost broken.

"Ms. Swan?" Dr. Banner addressed me. "Are you ready to give your presentation?"

I got a crazy idea. See, I had been preparing for this presentation for a month and had it completely memorized. I decided to leave my glasses off, hanging them on my top button so I could find them if I changed my mind.

I stood, picking up my series of posters that I had numbered and color coded thankfully, because I would be able to see the colors and know exactly what was on them without really having to look carefully.

I held up my first poster and there was a collective gasp. I just smiled, realizing I couldn't see anyone's faces and I didn't feel anxious or embarrassed at all now. I knew my study on the reproduction organs of rabbits would be an attention getter.

What? I told you when I started this I was horny. What else did you think my biology report would be on?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Beautiful Mess

EPOV

I had just returned from military school. I was being rewarded for my good grades and being allowed to come back to public school with my sister, Alice. At least there were girls here. Unfortunately, there weren't any pretty ones. I was making my way to class only to run into Alice, who was a frazzled mess. "Oh, Edward, I hit someone!"

"With your car?" I asked.

"No, the restroom door. I smacked her and busted open her face. I can't believe it!"

"Well, is she alright? I mean, you took her to the nurse?" I asked.

"No, she stubbornly ran off to class. I think it might have had to do with Lauren being a bitch to her, though."

"She's probably okay, Alice, don't worry about it. If she got up and ran off, I'm sure she was fine."

The second bell rang, making me late for my first biology class. "Get to class. I've got to run. If I get caught ditching, I don't think Carlisle would hesitate in sending me back."

"Oh no! Run!" she shouted after me and I watched her disappear in the other direction.

I was happy to find the classroom door was not locked yet, so the teacher either forgot or didn't believe in 'sweeping' late students into detention.

The room was full of giggling kids and the teacher was rolling his eyes. The girl in front who was giving a presentation just seemed to be trucking along, completely ignoring everyone's reactions. I was curious as to what she was presenting and stepped forward. There was a collective gasp when the girls noticed me. Yeah, yeah, I knew I was hot. I winked at a few and got some giggles, and then peeked at the girl's face giving the presentation. She had huge brown eyes that were just gorgeous. She glanced at her poster every once in a while and continued talking, completely ignoring me. My eyes wandered down and found a big gash on her chin. This was probably Alice's victim. I saw her chin was starting to bruise. I looked lower and saw that she had some huge heavy looking glasses hanging from her ratty old shirt. They were resting between her breasts, which were nice and generously sized, and I could see a little flash of pink lace every time she shifted the poster board in her hand so she could point to something. I realized the poster was of two rabbits fucking and bit back a laugh. I looked up at her face and she seemed to be completely ignoring me. The poster board she was holding was tipping a little and she was going to drop it, along with the several others in her hands.

I caught them and she thanked me, asking if I would hold them for her. I fought the laugh and did my best to put on a serious face as I held her fucking rabbits posters. I was happy that she finally noticed me. It usually didn't take so long. Of course, she didn't let me distract her from her mission of educating high school students on how to fuck like rabbits. She changed posters and they just seemed to get more and more graphic.

I was holding the pictures a little low and every once in a while, her hand would run down to the bottom of the poster covering my crotch to point out something in the picture and I felt her hand brush against me. I didn't know if she knew what she was doing but she did it so causally, as if she didn't care. Her brown eyes flitted back and forth between the posters and her classmates, completely oblivious to the hard on I was hiding from the class.

She finally wrapped up as the first bell rang to dismiss class. This chick just talked an hour about fucking rabbits. I think I was impressed.

"Thank you, Miss Swan," the teacher said from his desk.

She jumped a little and looked over at the teacher and then to me a few times, and then pulled her glasses from her shirt. She pushed them on her face and I could see they were sitting crooked, most likely from getting hit by Alice. My sister was just a tornado of trouble.

The girl, or Ms. Swan, focused on me and her now greatly reduced eyes widened as she gasped. Her cheeks pinked as she snatched the posters from my hands. "Sorry," she whispered and ran from the classroom.

I turned to the teacher and pulled out my schedule to be signed. "Thank you, Mr. Cullen, for assisting Ms. Swan. I'm impressed with your maturity," he said and then narrowed his gaze at the rest of the class. "You're all dismissed."

I found my sister waiting by my car. I hadn't gotten my motorcycle back yet. I had to have another semester of passing grades before they would return it. "Oh, Edward, did you see Bella? I heard that you helped her with her presentation."

"Bella?" I wondered if that was her name. I kind of liked it.

"Yeah, Bella Swan."

"Oh, yeah, the teacher did call her Ms. Swan."

"Thank you for being nice to her. I felt so bad after I hit her with the door."

"I think you busted her glasses," I pointed out.

Alice gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, god! I know her dad is a civil servant, too, and they're not very well off. There's no way she can afford a new pair. She's going to have to tape them or something and it'll all just get worse."

"What will get worse?" I asked.

"Watch out, fella, here comes Bella. I can smella, oops, she fella!" some jocks sang from across the parking lot as the girl in my class was tripped by some jerk. I think his name was Tyler. He was a real ass picking on a girl. I wanted to go beat his ass right now.

I guess Alice saw me clenching my fists because she put her hands on my chest. "No fighting. Military school, remember?" she whispered. It was true, I didn't want to go back there, but I was pissed that these assholes were hurting a girl. She was a fucking small, helpless girl, what the hell was their problem?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Last Straw

Epov

I couldn't get that girl out of my head. I watched her for the rest of the week as those jerks pushed her around and she just took it, never saying a word, just gathering her things and moving along. They pushed her extra hard on Thursday and I couldn't help myself. I hurried after her down the hall only to be cut off at the girl's bathroom door. I couldn't stand there and wait like a pervert but I was there long enough to hear her crying. That was it. I didn't give a fuck if I was going back to military school, I would beat the living shit out of those bastards.

Alice surprised me sneaking up on me. "Not here, Edward. Not on school grounds or you'll be kicked out for sure. Maybe if it's somewhere else, you won't get caught," she whispered. She knew there was no talking me out of it, but I agreed to her terms.

"They're going to the Dairy Queen after school, you can do it there."

I nodded in agreement. I would finally get to take those assholes down a peg.

I saw them standing around talking about the game tomorrow. The blonde bitch hanging on the leader eyed me as I walked up with Alice.

"Hey, Alice, is this that famous brother of yours?" she purred eyeing me.

"If you mean famous because I beat the shit out of your boyfriend and his buddies, then yeah, that's me," I said.

The guys all stood up offended. There were four of them but I didn't think they would be an issue. "What's your problem, man?" Tyler asked smirking, thinking he had the upper hand.

"You're an ass," I said plainly.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"You're an ass that gets his jollies off roughing up girls."

Lauren looked at her guy confused and he started laughing. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't rough up anyone unless they like it rough," he said winking at her and the guys all chuckled. She smirked at me.

"The Swan chick. You shove her around. I don't like it."

"Fuck that, she ain't a girl, and she doesn't give a damn, does she, boys?"

They all answered vocally except for one, a behemoth with curly dark hair who was standing more in the back. He was the biggest, but I didn't think he agreed with Tyler. I decided to kick his ass last.

"I give a damn. Leave her the fuck alone," I growled at them, my fists clenched. I'd had enough of this asshole.

"What is she, your bunny fucker?" he teased.

He didn't get a chance to laugh because my fist knocked out three of his teeth, two of which he was choking on as I brought his nose to my knee and kicked him in the ribs. One of his buddies stepped up to fight and I grabbed his arm as I dodged his swing and dislocate his shoulder. He was crying like a pussy as I kicked him in the chest and knocked him down. I beat the shit out of the next guy as well with ease. The pussy didn't even know how to fight, but when I got to the big guy, he put his hands up. "You're right, dude, he's an ass. I never sang or tripped her, but I should have said something about it so they would have stopped."

I had gathered as much from the way he was acting when I confronted them. "You say something, you stop them next time!" I snapped at him.

He nodded in agreement.

I was about to get in my car when a cop car pulled up. He looked at the guys crying on the ground and then to me. I knew my reputation preceded me.

"Well, Son, you mind telling me what happened here?" he asked as if he really gave a fuck.

I just glared.

Alice burst into tears.

"Chief Swan, it's not what you think," the big guy said behind me.

I looked at this guy's name tag; he was Chief Swan. Alice said her dad was a civil servant. Fuck. How the hell could he let this go on for so long? Didn't he see how beat up her hands and knees were? Couldn't he see her red eyes from all her crying? What the hell was wrong with this place? Why was everyone shitting on this girl?

"That's a very interesting story, Emmett, but I find it hard to believe that giant wolves ran through the parking lot and trampled the boys," Chief said eyeing me suspiciously.

I glared at Emmett who shrugged at me. I wasn't letting anyone off the hook, even if they threw me in juvie. "I beat the shit out of them for fucking with Bella. If you let them lay another finger on her again, I'll be coming after you next!" I snapped at the Chief. There was no way I was letting him off the hook for any of this, either.

He looked at me wide eyed and shocked. I was just waiting for him to say the wrong thing so I could deck him. Alice must have noticed because she stepped in front of me. "I'm sure he didn't know what was going on, Edward. He does now, so I'm sure he'll take care of it now," she said looking up at me and then to Chief Swan.

He glared over at the group of guys on the ground in a new light. Stupid Lauren saw that I was going to get off. "That stupid bitch deserves it for being so damn ugly!"

The Chief nodded at me. "You can go, Son," he said as if he was trying to hold back and called over his radio for a second car.


	4. Chapter 4

My bad, my lack of sleep mad me forget the disclaimer and props for the last three chapters. So y'all just remember, SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 4 Unspoken Truths

BPOV

I cleaned up my hands and scrapped knees and re-taped my glasses. God, I was the classic nerd. All I needed was a pocket protector, and the only reason I didn't have one was because I couldn't afford one. I put new band-aids on my chin and hands and got to work on dinner.

My dad came home a little early looking worried. I wondered if he was going to have to cancel his fishing trip. "Bella?" he asked gently and I looked at him worried that something bad had happened. "Can you tell me how you hurt yourself?" he asked.

I looked down at my bandaged hands and cringed, holding back tears. "I'm just clumsy, Dad," I said turning away from him. I felt him touch my shoulder and I winced a little. Tyler had shoved me really hard today.

"Did you hurt your shoulder?" he asked.

"Yeah, Dad, but it's no big deal," I said moving back to the counter.

"How did you hurt the back of your shoulder and the palms of your hands at the same time?" He had me there. He usually didn't question me on my clumsiness. I shrugged and winced.

"Is someone hurting you, Isabella?" he asked and I could see him swallow hard.

I didn't want him upset. I just gave him a smile. "I'm fine, Dad, nothing to worry about."

"Bella, Edward Cullen was nearly arrested for assault for beating Tyler Crowley, Eric Yorkie and Ben…"

"What?" I cut him off.

"He said they were hurting you," he said swallowing hard, "That he was doing what I should be."

My father looked at the ground ashamed.

"Dad," I pleaded.

"Did they hurt you? Or was this guy just trying to get off?" he asked.

I didn't want Edward to get in trouble, but I didn't want my dad to feel like a bad father, either. I was still in shock that Edward did what he did and thought that maybe he was just trying to get off.

I shrugged. "I don't know Edward very well, Dad," I said.

He shook his head, taking a few steps away from me, and then walked back over. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I realized for some reason he believed Edward and I was a little embarrassed.

"Emmett McCarty said he went on a rant, telling them to leave you alone, and then when they laughed at him for defending you, he beat them up, or down. They were all on the ground moaning in pain when I drove up."

I covered my face. I couldn't believe he had done that. They were going to kill me when I got to school on Friday. What the hell was he thinking?

**Epov**

Dinner that night was tense. Word had spread like wildfire that the three boys brought into the ER were beaten by an unknown assailant. It was being kept under wraps, but Carlisle kept looking at my knuckles. I think he figured out who it was, but without proof, he couldn't say anything. Alice, bless her heart, was doing her best to distract everyone. She kept talking about the 'spring dance'. Of course, this led to Esme asking if I would be attending.

"No, I don't know any girls," I blurted out. Truth was, I didn't know any girls I wanted to go with.

"What about Bella?" Alice bounced at her suggestion.

I looked at her like she was nuts, and even Esme dropped her fork in shock at the very idea, and that kind of pissed me off. There was nothing wrong with Bella.

"Alice, dear, I'm sure Edward could do better than Bella Swan, he isn't desperate and she's…not in his league. I'm sure Angela or Lauren would be more interesting to him. More to his taste," she said smiling at me, which just pissed me the hell off.

"Fuck that, they're bitches. I'd rather take Bella than any of them. At least she has a fucking brain in her head!" I shouted.

"Edward!" Carlisle threatened.

Alice interrupted his scolding with a squeal. "Wonderful! I'll let her know you'll be taking her. I can help her get dressed. She's going to look so beautiful. I can see it now." Alice went off on a tangent explaining the dress she wanted for Bella and how my tie should match.

"Wait a second!" I shouted at her.

"Edward," she scolded, "You have to take her. She'll be just heartbroken if you break it off."

"Break it off? I haven't even asked her yet!"

I looked over at Carlisle and Esme and both of them looked completely amused by the mess I had gotten myself into. "She's right, gentlemen don't break things off," Carlisle added smirking.

Well, fuck that, I was taking her then, and I was having a fuck awesome time. This wasn't a punishment. I wouldn't let it be. I would show them. Bella was going to have a hell of a good time, too.

"Can I take my bike?" I asked suddenly.

"What? Of course not!" Alice screamed. "She'll be wearing a dress."

I rolled my eyes. "Make sure she has a coat!" I said in a duh voice. "I want to take her on my bike," I said with a smirk and then looked to Carlisle with questioning eyes. He looked to Esme and she let out a sigh. "I don't know if Chief Swan will approve of her riding on that thing."

"Helmet hair!" Alice screamed. "You can't take her with helmet hair, Edward! That's horrible."

I shrugged. "Look, I think she looks fine the way she is, helmet hair is not going to hurt anything," I said and looked to Carlisle.

He face palmed himself and then sighed. "If her father says it's alright…"

"Cool. Chief will be down with it. I'll bring his girl home in one piece."

"And a virgin!" Esme shouted after.

"I'm not making any promises!" I teased. I wouldn't fuck Bella because she was a nice girl. That and the chief could totally throw me in lockup for bogus shit. I saw how he worked when it came to his daughter. I should totally be in lockup now. It was cool of him to let me go. I hoped he was working those assholes over.

A/N Thanks for reading, please review.


	5. Chapter 5

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 5 Foot in Mouth Disease

EPOV

Just like I thought, the guys were missing from school the next day. Emmett, the big guy, seemed kind of lost without them and surprised me when he nodded in my direction and asked me what was up.

Before I could answer, Alice was bouncing over and I could see bad things in my future. "He's going to ask Bella Swan to the spring dance," she said smirking.

Emmett looked at me confused. "I thought you wasn't fucking bunny girl?"

"I'm not!" I snapped.

"Not fucking or not taking her to the dance?" he asked again.

"I'm not fucking her, man."

"Then why you taking her?"

"Geez, I don't know, Alice thinks I should," I shrugged. "Somebody's got to."

I heard a gasp from behind me and saw the dark haired girl in question. Her crooked glasses were taped and tipping to the side. Her eyes were watering and she pulled them off her face, leaving her glorious brown eyes unsheltered. Her ivory pale face was blushed a beautiful crimson, her lashes dark and thick around those chocolate orbs. I was mesmerized until she snapped. "Don't do me anymore favors, asshole!" she said and pushed past us.

"Damn, she's a bit ungrateful," Emmett said.

"No, she's not," I said shaking my head, feeling like a complete jackass. I guess I was not going to the dance after all.

Needless to say, by the time we got to biology, things were messed up. Dr. Banner announced a lab and told us to get with our partners. Everyone had one but me, being the new kid. I didn't have one and well, I guess no one wanted to be with Bella, either. I didn't know why. She was obviously smart. Brain size was more important than cup size when it came to lab partners. It just so happened that Bella wasn't lacking in either. It was just hard to tell with the baggy old flannel shirt she was wearing. I wanted her to hang her glasses in her shirt again so it would pull it tight against her breasts.

I heard her let out a huff when I sat down. She pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes and pinched her nose. The thick lenses must have been heavy on her little button nose. "Why do you wear glasses?" I blurted out.

She glared at me before she slammed them back on her face annoyed. "Because I'm virtually blind without them. Why don't you walk without your legs?" she snapped.

"Uh, because I can't." This girl was quick. I think I liked it.

She rolled her eyes at me and pulled the lab paper over in front of her. She started going through the slides, not even looking at me, filling out the answers without talking to me. It was only ten minutes in that she finished and pulled out a book.

I grabbed the paper and started double checking her answers.

"What are you doing?" she snapped.

"The lab," I said in a duh voice.

"It's already done." She was annoyed and tried to take the paper from me.

"You did it. Not me, I'm just looking over the answers."

"Well, they're all right."

"Are you sure?" I asked, an evil plan forming in my head.

"Of course I'm sure."

"Alright, if I find one wrong answer, then you have to go to the spring dance with me."

"No," she said flatly.

To say I was a little shocked was an understatement. Why wouldn't she want to go with me? "Why not?"

"Look, I don't know what you have planned, but I'm not going to be part of it," she said waving her pencil at me like a sword.

"Come on, Bella, what do you have to lose?" I asked and gave her my best puppy begging eyes. I could see her cracking. At least I thought she was cracking. She closed her eyes and pulled off her glasses again. I thought she probably needed a new prescription or something.

She looked up at me with her glasses off and took a deep breath. "No," she said again.

"Holy shit, you just used your blindness to your advantage. No one can resist my puppy pout," I said. She rolled her blind eyes at me and looked forward into what I was guessing was just fuzz since she couldn't even see me sitting next to her. "Bella," I pleaded, "Alice is making me go. I don't want to go with a whore. You're the only chick in Forks that I'm sure has no STD's."

"How would you know?" she snapped.

My brows furrowed but she couldn't see it.

"Look, I may not be a whore but I'm just as sexually viable as the next girl."

What the hell? "You want to fuck?" I asked and her face turned pink. It was cute.

She slammed her book shut and stomped up to the front desk where Dr. Banner was. "I'm done, Dr. Banner. The usual homework?" she asked.

"Yes, Ms. Swan," he answered.

"Mind if I finish the hour in the library?"

"That's fine," he said. I noticed that she stumbled to the door and I realized she had left her glasses. I grabbed them, my book bag, and our lab paper. I handed the paper over. "Do you mind if I join Ms. Swan? She forgot her glasses," I said holding them up.

He eyed me for a moment as if he was trying to decide if I was trustworthy, which I wasn't, but I hoped he hadn't heard that yet. "Fine," he finally decided and I hurried out of the room before he could change his mind.

I looked down the hall and saw Bella leaning with her head against the wall. She was crying softly and I felt like an ass for chasing her out of class. Of course, I couldn't help but check her out as she stood there. Her clothes were all baggy and old, but I could see by the way her pants were cinched on her hips that she had a nice figure. I kind of wanted to grab her ass to feel if it was as firm as it looked. I found myself standing a little too close to her and leaned in whispering, "Hey, pretty girl, what are you doing?" I asked.

Yeah, not as smooth as I thought because she turned around and smacked me in the neck. I think she was aiming for my head, but she was really blind. I grabbed her hands trying to save myself, only leaving myself open to be kneed. "Fuck," I squealed like a girl as I hit the floor. I saw her getting ready to kick me, but I grabbed her foot and pulled her down. I pinned her under me so she couldn't move and smashed her glasses onto her face. "Jesus, woman, please. I was just bringing you your glasses."

It was then I realized she was full out crying. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." I suddenly realized I'd just about attacked a blind girl who was stuck alone in a deserted hallway.

To my surprise, she sobbed out, "I'm sorry," but I shushed her and pulled her into my lap.

"Hey, you should fight a stranger you don't know. You were doing pretty good. Why don't you fight off Tyler and those assholes?" I asked.

She looked away ashamed. "It's easier to just take it. Besides, they aren't really hurting me."

I picked up her scratched hand and turned her palm up. "I beg to differ."

"Did you really beat them up?"

"Fuck yeah! Assholes shouldn't touch girls like that," I said.

She looked away and I didn't like it. "There were no wrong answers; you wouldn't have been able to trick me into going to the dance with you," she said out of the blue, referring to the bet I had tried to make on the lab work.

"I planned on changing one so you would," I confessed.

She looked at me confused and shook her head. "Why are you talking to me? Don't you know it's not good for your reputation?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Fuck that. I'll talk to whoever I want. So, will you go with me? I really don't want to get stuck with that bitch, Lauren, and it'll kind of piss off my folks if I take you and have a good time. Do you mind?" I asked again.

She looked at me confused. "You really want to go with me?"

"Yeah, as I said, you're the only girl who isn't a fucking whore. You were my first choice since Alice insisted I had to go to this thing."

Tears started dripping down her face and she took her glasses off again. I wiped them before she could. "Please don't cry. Just let me take you. I'm not really a spring dance kind of guy, but Alice has me by the balls. I have to keep an eye on her, so I have to go. I really would like to go with you."

She sniffled and nodded yes. I pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you. I promise we'll have fun. I'll find a way to make it fun for you."

She giggled into my neck and it made my insides warm up. I liked Bella Swan. Probably more than I should.

A/N Look I remembered to add this at the end this time. Thanks for reading please review.


	6. Chapter 6

**SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.**

**Chapter 6 Winter Itch**

**BPOV**

Edward Cullen asked me to the spring dance. I was even his first choice. My insides were doing a happy dance. I didn't know why I was his first choice other than I wasn't a whore, but who cared. I had a date. My very first date ever. I was feeling so happy, I was kind of scared. I shouldn't feel this good. Bad things happened when I was happy. Like landing face first in the school mashed potatoes when I got an 'A' on my trig exam. I did my best to fight the smile the rest of the day, but there was no way to hide it from my dad. He came home and smiled widely at me, making me release my hugantic smile. Okay, I knew that was not a word, but there was no way to help it. It was huge and gigantic, so hugantic totally fit.

"How was your day, Bells?" he asked. "You seem to be in a good mood."

I nodded yes and brought him a beer. "No one giving you trouble?" he asked, like he knew the answer already.

"Nope. Today was surprisingly quiet on the teasing front." Which was a bit shocking to say the least now that I thought about it.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it. Look, Billy and I were talking about having an overnight campout with both our families in about two weeks."

"What? No!" That was spring dance weekend.

"No? Did you have plans? A report to finish or something?" he asked confused. I usually loved our family outings with the Blacks.

"No, I mean yes, I have plans. The spring dance is then," I said suddenly nervous to tell my dad I had a date.

"Spring dance? You're going to the dance?" he asked confused. I had never gone to one before.

I nodded my head yes.

"Are you going with someone?" he asked and I knew there was no getting around it.

"Edward Cullen asked me to go with him."

He looked at me surprised and then nervous. "Edward, the guy that assaulted those…"

"Dad," I cut him off, "Please, it'll be my first date ever."

He let out a sigh and rubbed his face. "Well, I suppose, but I want to officially meet him as your boyfriend before you go."

"Dad, he's not," I pouted, "We're just going as friends."

"The guy takes on a crowd of jerks for you, and then asks you to the dance. That sounds like a boyfriend to me," he stated plainly and I knew it did. But he wasn't, and now I was kind of wishing he was.

"He's just nice," I said with a shrug and my dad laughed and shook his head.

"No meeting, no date. I want to make sure he's going to take care of you."

"He will," I defended. I didn't know why but I kind of trusted Edward.

I spent the rest of the evening trying to come up with a way to casually get Edward to my house before the dance. The problem was I had no idea. I had never asked anyone over to my house and I kind of didn't want him to see it. We were really poor and I was a little embarrassed about our tiny old house.

It was half way into my panic attack when I realized that I didn't have his number to even ask him to come over, and there was no way I was approaching him at school in front of everyone.

Being a small town, I knew where he lived and thought if I casually walked over there like I was passing through, maybe he would come out and say hi and I could ask him then.

I was so screwed.

I threw my sweats back on and grabbed my old coat and started for his house. I knew it was on the edge of town, but I didn't realize how far it was until it was the freaking middle of the night when I got there. His whole house was dark. I stood leaning against a tree glaring at it and cursing my sore legs. This was so stupid. How the hell was I supposed to get home now?

I saw a light flip on and moved to that side of the house and gasped at what I saw. It was Edward and he was wearing just boxers as he rummaged through the fridge. He took a bottle of water out and started walking toward the back of the house. I watched as a light flicked on and it looked like his room. I was surprised that it had a freaking piano in it. The walls were all funny looking. I was pretty sure it was sound proof. There was a guitar stand in the corner as well. He turned his back to me and I saw something black on his shoulder. A tattoo maybe?

What he did next was just shocking. He set his water bottle on the nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lotion. I thought, hmm, he had winter itch, but then he dropped his boxers and took that hand full of lotion and…you know what I was talking about.

His eyes were closed and I hated that this place was sound proof because I really wanted to hear him getting off. He used some tissue and caught the mess he made when he came. I had pressed my ear against the glass trying to hear what he called out but there was no sound, damn sound proof room. He then used the bottle of water to clean himself up. So I guess he wasn't thirsty. Now I just wanted to offer him bottles of water at school to see if he would take them.

A/N Silly isn't well it is about to get worse. Thanks for reading please review.


	7. Chapter 7

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 7 In Good Standing

BPOV

I stepped back from the window and it looked like he was walking toward me. I moved to the side of it and he surprised me by opening it a little and dropping the tissues out of it. I looked down at my feet to find a mess of old tissues. I was standing in Edward jizz!

Of course, I also noticed he didn't shut his window all the way. It was open just a crack. He flopped on his bed and closed his eyes. Did I mention this guy was naked? Yeah, he forgot to put his boxers back on.

As I had mentioned when I started this, I was horny. Like in a very, very bad way, and now this beautiful boy was laying in my sights naked and I wanted to touch him, or myself, or something, I didn't know, but I was sure touching should have been happening somewhere!

My legs started shaking and I realized that I needed to sit down before they collapsed from exhaustion. There was a little couch in his room, and if I was super quiet, I could probably rest on it before I headed back. Also, I would get a better view of mister naked and snoring.

I creaked his window open a little and wiggled in through the crack. The smell that filled my nose was shocking. So that was what sex and Edward smelled like. My girl bits flexed in excitement and I knew it was wrong. I made it over to the couch and nearly collapsed. My legs were killing me. Why did this god have to live so damn far away?

I took my sneakers off and put my feet up on his little coffee table. My thighs seemed to sigh in relief. Maybe I really needed to start jogging for real to get myself in better shape! I laid my head back against the back of his little couch and looked over at his sleeping form. He had an adorable little pout on his face that made him look so young and innocent. However, the generous size of his…manhood…proved he was anything but a child.

I closed my eyes before I did something stupid like try to touch him, but I ended up doing something stupider and fell asleep. I was woken up by his alarm clock going off. I stared, petrified that he was going to freak out with me being there, but he blindly hit the snooze button, not even opening his eyes, and rolled over snoring. I quickly took the hint and grabbed my sneakers, slipping out of the window. I ran full out for the first few minutes to get away from his house and any accusations. When I was about a mile away, I relaxed and started a slow jog home.

I almost had a heart attack when he came jogging up behind me. "Hey, Bella, what are you doing out so early?"

Was it early? I looked over and saw the sun was just barely peeking through the trees.

"Do you run in the morning, too?" he asked.

Well, I did this morning. I just shrugged. "Do you mind if I join you?"

I looked at him like he was nuts. "I'm just heading back to my house now," I said.

He smiled. "That's cool. I'll jog along with you." I nodded okay because what was I supposed to say? 'No, I'm not out for a morning run, I was just watching you get off and fell asleep in your room?' I didn't think so.

I jogged and groaned; my muscles were tight and sore from my insane walk last night. "Did you stretch?" he asked and I shook my head no.

"You must be new to jogging," he said and I nodded. "Well, come on then," he said sitting on the side of the road and started stretching, waiting for me to do the same. I copied him and groaned in relief; my body needed a good stretching like you wouldn't believe. I looked up at him and he was looking at me, breathing hard.

"Should we slow down?" I asked him.

He looked at me confused and then nodded yes. We started walking, and to my surprise, he walked me all the way home. He did most of the talking, as we were walking a little too fast for me to talk to him without panting. Besides, I was scared to look him in the face, afraid that maybe if I did, he would see that I had been in his room and watched him get off last night.

We were just coming up to my house when my father stepped out onto the porch. "Isabella, where have you been?" he asked sternly and I wondered if he knew I had been gone all night. I hoped he didn't say anything in front of Edward.

"I went for a run," I mumbled and I was pretty sure he knew I was lying, but he just looked hard at Edward.

"I ran into Bella out on the I-5 where I do my morning run. I thought I would walk her back and make sure she got here in one piece," Edward said and my father took in his running attire. It was apparent that Edward had been telling the truth, my father just didn't know why I was wandering around on the interstate.

My father stepped forward and rested his hand on his gun. "My Bella tells me you asked her to the spring dance?"

"Yes, Sir, my sister will be double dating with us if that's alright with you?"

My dad looked to me and smiled a little. "Yeah, that sounds good. When will you be picking her up?"

"At six o'clock that evening if that's alright. My family wanted us to have dinner and pictures at the house before we left. You're welcome to join us, Sir. I'm sure you'll want to get some pictures of her once my sister is done with her."

"Sister?" my dad asked and I cringed.

Edward shrugged. "Alice thought it might be nice for Bella to get ready with another girl. I mean, if that's alright with you?" he asked me.

I shrugged and nodded it was fine.

"Cool, I'll let Alice know."

"Edward," my dad called to him and he looked worried, "It's a long walk back, would you like a lift?" The way my father asked kind of left no room for argument.

"Sure, thanks, Sir," Edward said and ran around to the other side of the cruiser. "I'll see you later at school, Bella."

I nodded at him and grabbed my dad's arm. "Be nice, don't mess this up for me," I growled.

My dad looked down at me and raised an eyebrow. "I'm giving him a ride home, how is that not nice?" he asked too innocently.

"Be nice," I growled again and ran into the house calling for my mom.

She came out and I told her what dad was doing and that she would have to get a new daughter if he chased away the only guy that had ever asked me on a date.

I was headed for the shower when she stopped me. "Bella, where were you?"

"I was jogging," I said with a shrug.

"You were wearing those clothes yesterday."

I shrugged. "I didn't want to get clean clothes dirty," I lied. I had a feeling my mother suspected it was a lie but thankfully, since I was a pretty good kid so far, she didn't have a reason to worry about me. She would never suspect I was a female version of a peeping tom sneaking into strange boy's windows.

No, her perfect daughter would never do that.

A/N I bet you will never look at a tissue the same again, especially if you see it sitting under a window. Thanks for reading, please review.


	8. Chapter 8

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 8 Ticket to ride

Epov

To say I was a little nervous to be catching a ride home with Chief Swan would be an understatement. I did my best to appear innocent of any and all crimes. I was guilty of a lot of things. I didn't think he could nail me for anything yet, I hoped.

I was guilty of jacking off to thoughts of his daughter's breasts and those big doe eyes. They would look so hot looking up at me as she was sucking my cock. She did say she was a sexually viable woman. Fuck, I wanted to fuck her but I couldn't. It didn't make sense. No, she wasn't the prettiest girl in the school, and she could be a sassy bitch, but I think I liked that, maybe.

"So, you're taking my baby girl on her first date," Chief Swan said. I looked at him like I was a retard because I was surprised. She had to be what, seventeen now? I mean we were on the far end of our junior year.

I just nodded dumbly because I realized this was Bella Swan and no one wanted her.

"So, why did you ask my girl out?" the Chief grilled me.

I panicked. "She's not a whore!" I squealed like a little girl.

His brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean? You think she's some kind of challenge to be won? Because if you do…"

"NO NO NO!" I cut him off. "I didn't! Shit."

"Language, boy. You kiss your momma with that mouth?" he asked.

I frowned and turned away. I shook my head no. "My momma's dead, Sir. I live with my aunt and uncle." I would have thought the small town gossip would have gotten around by now. I guess I was out of sight, out of mind being in military school.

I heard a sigh from the driver seat and he pulled the car off the side of the road, making me a little nervous. He looked at me a little sternly, but something was off. It was like he wasn't really pissed at me. I could almost feel it.

"I'm sorry to hear about your momma, Son, but still, I need to know why you asked my daughter out."

I bit my lip; truth was, I wasn't sure. To piss off Carlisle and Esme? Because she had nice boobs and could talk about fucking rabbits for an hour? No, I couldn't tell him either of those.

"Listen, I just don't want my little girl getting hurt. I know she comes off as tough, but she really isn't. I see it now. I just…" He took a deep breath. "If you're planning something to make fun of her or hurt her, I'm asking you right now to not do it. You don't have to take her. You can tell her you're sick or something, but please, don't hurt my little girl," he begged me.

I looked at him shocked. I looked at my hands for a moment as we sat in silence. "Sir, I'm not sure how to answer you. I didn't plan on doing anything mean to Bella. My mom raised me better than that. I know she's not here, but I'd like to think she was watching me."  
>He looked at me like he was waiting for me to continue.<p>

I let out a sigh. "Look, I know Bella's not the most popular girl at school, but I mean, she's spunky," I said with a shrug.

A wide smile lit up his face and he patted my shoulder. "That she is."

**Bpov**

Sunday was pretty quiet like usual. Dad was watching TV with mom and I was on the back porch petting the Baker's cat. I always wanted a pet, but my parents said we couldn't afford one. I was happy to borrow the neighbor's pets, though. I was actually planning on being a vet or zoologist because I loved animals. See, animals didn't care if I had zits or braces. In fact, I was pretty sure they liked the hand-me-down clothes I got from my mom because there was room to hide in them.

Right now, Frisky was attacking the strings hanging from the bottom of my jeans which he wouldn't be able to do if they were new. For some reason, animals loved everything about me, just the way I was. They gave me the break I needed from the mean human world. I laid down in the back yard after sharing my tuna sandwich with him. Yeah, we were good friends, me and Frisky.

"Bella," I heard my mother call me from the back porch. I didn't bother to look up because I knew she could see me laying there teasing Frisky with a string I had pulled from the bottom of my jeans. "Bella," she called again.

"What? I got Frisky," I asked, wondering why she was interrupting my Sunday play with my best friend.

"Telephone."

**Epov**

I was nervous as all hell. I wanted to ask Bella what color her dress was going to be so I could get the flowers ordered. Esme pretty much insisted I get the order in now so I got nice fresh flowers, not leftover crap or whatever. I called the Swan's house. Their number was in the phone book, which was only about twenty pages total. Yeah, she was easy to find. Of course, trying to sound like a gentleman was hard when you were scared shitless of Chief Swan and your voice was cracking.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Mrs. Swan answered and she was really nice. I heard her call for Bella and she didn't answer. I was suddenly worried that Bella was not there and I was going to have to go through this torture of calling again! Then I heard her yelling that she was frisky. Holy hell? What did that mean?

"Telephone?" she asked confused. I realized now that no one ever called her.

"Yes, it's your date," her mother said and I could hear the excitement in her mother's voice and it made me feel guilty for some reason. She was acting like there was more potential beyond us being friends and I really didn't see Bella and me hitting it off like that. Sure, she had nice boobs, but you needed more than boobs to be my girlfriend. I would be dating Lauren Mallory otherwise.

"Hello?" Bella said sounding confused.

"Hey, Bella, it's Edward."

"Edward? How did you get my number?" she asked and I kind of felt like a dick for calling her.

"The phone book."

I heard her whisper, "Why didn't I think of that?" but I didn't think I was supposed to hear it.

"Did I hear you say you were frisky?" I mean she had said she was a sexually viable woman, but you didn't usually announce that kind of stuff to your mom.

"Ug, oh, just a second," she said but her voice sounded a little funny. Then I heard, "Oh oh oh! Frisky!"

"Bella?"

"Hold on, I have a cat climbing up my pants," she said and I was wondering if this was some kind of innuendo or what? I had no idea.

"Ug, uh, silly pussy," she sighed. "Okay, I'm listening," she said and I was a little stunned. Was she just getting off? That was what it sounded like. "Edward, are you still there?" she asked.

"Yeah, um, yeah." I just had to forget it and cut to why I was calling. "So," I pushed on, "I was wondering what color dress you had to wear to the dance."

"Oh," she sounded sad but I didn't know why, "Um, can I get back to you?"

"Sure, but do it soon, I need to order your corsage," I explained.

"Oh," she said again, "Um, thanks." She hung up before I could say anything else. I didn't know why this bothered me. She didn't sound happy about the whole dress and flower thing.

Alice came bouncing into my room. "I'm going to get her new glasses, no, contacts. I mean it's the least I could do after practically knocking her out and busting hers. I know they don't have the money for a new pair."

Then it hit me. They didn't have money. I was asking her about a dress and she probably didn't have one, or the money to get one. Shit.

"What?" Alice asked. "Don't you think she would look good in contacts?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "She doesn't have a dress, Alice," I blurted out.

Her face contorted in pain like I had just killed her puppy. "She isn't backing out is she? She can't! How could she dump the first guy who was nice to her?"

"She didn't dump me!" I snapped a little defensively. "She just said she had to get back to me about the dress color."

"Oh, so you think she doesn't have one?"

I shrugged.

"I'll feel her out when I take her to get her contacts, don't worry," Alice said cheerily and disappeared.

Somehow I had a feeling this was going to be a lot tougher than Alice thought.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	9. Chapter 9

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 9 Lost in the crowd

EPOV

I looked along the road as Alice and I drove to school on Monday. I knew Bella walked, but I didn't see her. I guessed she left early and was already at school. I hoped she got there alright. Chances were that Tyler and the dick wad crew would be there today. They had better not lay a hand on her. I didn't know why I felt so protective of her, but I felt like someone ought to look out for her. And since no one else was going to do it, I guess that fell on me.

I knew if I didn't find her that I would at least see her in Biology. I suspected Alice was going to find her before then, though. She was set on taking her to get some new eyewear since she had broken Bella's old glasses. Honestly, I think Alice did her a favor since her old prescription seemed to be way off.

Our school wasn't that big, but for some reason, Bella was nowhere to be seen. Alice was getting frustrated. I told her I would let Bella know she was looking for her when I saw her in class. What I didn't expect was for Bella to be talking to the teacher when I got there and then be gone. She left! I didn't know what she told him, but for some reason he just smiled and nodded at her, waving her off while the rest of us suckers were stuck in class. I was beginning to think she was avoiding me.

Alice was standing outside the classroom door when I came out. She frowned when she realized Bella had not been in class. "Is she not in school today?" she asked.

"She is, but I think she's avoiding me."

"Nonsense," Alice said waving her hand like it was silly, but I was pretty sure I was right. "We'll just have to swing by her house on our way home."

We headed out to the parking lot and I saw Tyler and the dick wads scowling in my direction. I also noticed Emmett wasn't with them. I hadn't figured out if that was a good or bad thing. I was kind of hoping Emmett would keep their shit in line.

I saw Bella walking past them and Tyler said something to her, but she didn't turn or look at them. She just hurried past them. I took a few steps in their direction. I didn't give a fuck if we were on school grounds, I would take the fucker out if he messed with Swan again. Ben noticed my movement and knocked Tyler in the shoulder. He scowled and turned away.

_That's right, fucker, you stay away. You want to pick on someone, grow a pair and find a guy to fuck around with_.

BPOV

A dress, I needed a dress. When I got off the phone, I saw my mother standing in the doorway waiting anxiously, as if I was about to announce something exciting.

"So, what did he want?" she asked with too big a smile.

I frowned. "He wanted to know the color of my dress so he can get the flowers to match."

"Oh, okay, hmm," she said tapping her chin. She knew I didn't have a dress. "Let's go check my closet, honey, maybe we can find something," she said. I wasn't holding my breath.

I followed her, pretty sure she didn't have anything fancy, either. I was right. She had her plain black dress that she wore to funerals, but that was it.

"Just let me talk to daddy, honey, and we'll come up with some money somewhere. There's a new second hand store in Port Angeles, maybe they'll have a nice dress for you."

I gave her a tight smile. I wanted to smile bigger because I knew she was doing all she could. Money was just so tight for us.

Suddenly, I didn't feel so excited about my date anymore. Maybe Edward would let me back out. I was sure he wouldn't mind finding someone else to go with him.

By the time Monday rolled around, I was sure I was going to have to break the date with Edward. I mean really, I had nothing to wear, and I wasn't being a picky bitch about it. I really didn't have a dress to wear. I didn't even own one. My mother had told me that we would go to Port Angeles after school to look for a dress. I doubted I would find anything nice but decided to not break the date until I was sure.

I thought it best to completely avoid Edward until I knew for sure. I didn't want to get his hopes up or say the wrong thing to make him think I wasn't happy about him asking me out on a date. It was very nice of him to do it, so avoidance right now was my best friend.

I rushed across the parking lot, narrowly missing Tyler. He was starting to harass me but stopped mid taunt. I wasn't sure why, but I wasn't going to look up to see, either. I found it best to avoid eye contact. I was almost home when a car drove up next to me. I jumped back away from the road and ended up on my butt. Well, if they were kidnappers, I was as good as dead I thought. Of course, I realized that wasn't the case when a hand reached out to help me up. "Hey, sorry, we didn't mean to startle you," Edward said. "I just didn't see you at school today and Alice wanted to talk to you."

He pulled me up off the sidewalk and I straightened my broken glasses. "Those are my fault," Alice said pointing at my eyewear.

"Okay?" I really didn't get the point.

"I'm buying you glasses or contacts. I should so get you contacts."

"I can't afford the solution to maintain them, Alice. Besides, these are still fine. The lenses don't fall out, see," I said and tapped them lightly.

She frowned. "I broke them, and I was taught if you break it, you buy it, so I'm buying it," she insisted. "When are you free to go to get them replaced?"

"Really, it's fine. My insurance won't cover another pair."

"Edward, tell her!" Alice snapped getting frustrated. I stepped back a little nervous.

Edward let out a chuckle. "Do me a favor and let her buy you some glasses. She was freaking out about it since the day she hit you with the door."

"Oh," was my brilliant response.

"So, you'll let her buy you a new pair?" he asked and I blushed and shrugged.

"Great, so when can she take you? Do you have time this evening?" he asked and I remembered my mother was waiting for me.

"This evening," I repeated. "I can't; my mom is taking me dress shopping."

Alice's smile grew way too wide. "Can I come?" she asked excited.

"No!" I said shaking my head mortified. I didn't want her knowing I bought my dress from the second-hand store.

She pouted, and before she could say another word, Edward stepped in and saved me yet again. "Alice, I'll bet she's going with her mom as a mother-daughter thing, so let them have their special time together. Am I right?" he asked and I nodded yes.

"Alright, but we're going to get you contacts then!" she insisted and rolled up her window before I could protest.

"Don't mind her, Bella. She can be stubborn, but she's harmless."

"I find that difficult to believe," I mumbled in response but he heard it and started laughing.

"Later, Bella, I'll see you tomorrow," he called as he hopped in the car. I really hoped I found a dress tonight because I didn't want to have to break my date with him. I had a feeling that I would never find another guy like Edward Cullen.

A/N Small towns can't pay cops a lot, it just isn't in their city budget, that is why they are so poor. They can make as little as $25-45,000 a year, which in todays economy just sucks balls. So yes, the money is tight, but my beta got on my case and now you will all be sorry! MOOHAHAHA! Okay enough evil laugh, thanks for reading, please review.


	10. Chapter 10

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 10 Open doors

Bpov

I hurried inside and checked my parent's room. My mom was still sleeping so I thought I would let her rest and finish up my homework while I had a snack.

Before I knew it, my dad was home. I looked up, surprised so much time had passed. "Hey, button, did you and your mom have any luck on the dress hunt?" he asked.

"She's still sleeping. I figured I would just finish my homework and she would wake up soon, but I guess she isn't up yet." I looked at the clock. "I suppose I'll start dinner. Soup sound okay? I'm guessing if she's sleeping that she isn't feeling good."

"Yeah, thanks, button," he said leaning over and kissed the top of my head. He walked back to where their room was and I knew he was probably going to wake up my mom. I hoped that she didn't feel bad about missing the store today. There was always tomorrow or this weekend. Maybe we could get dad to drive us. I knew the drive to Port Angeles would take a lot out of her.

"Bella," my dad called to me, "Your mom is running another high fever. I'm taking her in. Are you going to be alright here alone?"

"Sure, Dad, I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll call you when we find out when she'll be coming home," he said carrying my mother's limp body to the car. You would think I would panic, but this had gotten to be pretty routine. She probably just needed another round of some sort of medicine to help her fight something off. She had an auto-immune disease that just worked against her constantly.

I finished up the soup and put it in the fridge after eating my portion of it. I was sure she would be alright. She had been going through this for as long as I could remember. I pulled out the cleaners and disinfected everything, scrubbing the house from top to bottom and washing the linens. I was sure she had picked something up somewhere and I needed to kill it off before she came home again. I had just finished getting ready for bed when my dad called and let me know they weren't coming home tonight. Exhausted, I went and locked up downstairs and tucked myself into bed.

EPOV

"Edward, could you be a dear and take Carlisle his dinner? He had another patient come in last minute and he can't get away."

"Can I take my bike?" I asked in bargaining.

Esme rolled her eyes but conceded. I put the packed up food in my backpack and headed down to the hospital. It was pretty quiet as I made my way to his office. One of the nurses stopped me before opening his door. "He's with a patient. Just wait. I'm sure he's almost done," she said and I leaned next to the door. I didn't mean to listen, but I could hear what they were saying.

"I'm sorry, Chief Swan, but your wife is going to have to stay longer this time. You know a simple cold or flu bug can really be dangerous. This little sniffle that I'm sure she came down with this morning is already turning into pneumonia. I know she doesn't like staying here, but she really needs to consider taking up residence in the hospital. We have better air filters and it's just a much more sterile environment."

"She wants to be with our daughter. Look, just tell me what I have to do so she can get better and come home."

"Edward?" I heard someone call to me. I looked up and saw a woman sitting up on a bed in the room across from my father's office. She was surrounded by clear plastic and waved me over smiling. "You're Edward Cullen, right?" she asked.

I nodded and stepped forward. I figured she was stuck in the plastic, so I was pretty safe. "You're taking my Isabella to the spring dance. I'm her mother, Renee Swan," she said smiling like she wasn't sick.

I just nodded nervously. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Swan."

"Oh, please, call me Renee."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She chuckled at me. "Edward, can you do me a favor?"

"Ah, sure," I said not really knowing what I was agreeing to.

"Can you make sure my Bella doesn't back out of your date. I wasn't able to take her to get her dress today and I know she's worried about it. I'll talk to my husband about taking her to get it, but I'm worried she's going to back out saying she's causing too much trouble," she said sadly.

"I won't let her back out. My sister can take her shopping if you want. She really was hoping to go with you today but Bella said it was a mother-daughter thing."

Renee smiled. "That would have been nice. I swear I'm getting tired of this old sick body. I'm ready to trade it in for a new model," she said joking and laughed but started coughing. "Thank you for looking out for my girl. I think everyone is so busy worrying about me that she slips between the cracks."

"Don't worry, Ma'am; I'll keep an eye on her." I think I was starting to understand the quiet sassy Isabella Swan a little better now. She didn't complain about anything because her parents had enough on their plate as it was.

BPOV

I had just lain down to go to bed when the phone rang. I wondered silently if I should get it but decided to get up and answer it because it might be my dad with some news.

"Hello?"

"Bella?"

"Who is this?" I asked confused. No one ever called me.

"Sorry to call so late. This is Edward. I just wanted to call and see if you were doing alright."

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" I asked confused. Last he saw me I was walking up my driveway.

"I kind of ran into your mom at the hospital."

"Oh, how is she doing?" I asked. It kind of sucked he knew more than I did at this point. Dad hadn't even called to let me know if I was going to have to come in for a donation tomorrow. I figured I would eat a big dinner just in case.

"She was in a good mood. She's really nice, told me to call her Renee."

"Oh, that's nice." I had no idea what to say; this conversation was getting more awkward by the minute.

"She made me promise not to let you back out of our date. She said you were worried about getting a dress and that I shouldn't let you back out."

I was freaking out. I wanted to strangle my mother for telling him that. "Just, don't worry about that, Edward; it's fine."

"Alright, but if you need someone to take you shopping, I could do it. Or Alice would love it if you'd rather go with a girl or something. Just let me know, but not having a dress is no excuse not to go on a date with me, Bella. Your mother agrees with me on this one."

"Fine," I said and hung up. I was mortified. There was no way I was going to be able to face him tomorrow. I had to find a way to come up with some money to buy a dress. The problem with living in a small town was it had a very small economy with fewer jobs. The fact that I needed one within walking distance just made it all the more difficult to find one.

Avoiding Edward the next day at school became easy when my father pulled me out at lunch time. He took me to the diner to make sure I had a hearty meal before I donated plasma for my mother. I noticed a little help wanted sign and quickly asked Sue about it.

She rolled her eyes. "Harry went to some convention on boosting restaurant sales and bought a giant shake."

Dad was next to me looking just as confused.

"It's a costume. Anyway, the job is just for the weekend lunch rushes. We want someone to stand outside dressed as a giant shake and pass out flyers."

"I can do that," I said eagerly.

She looked at me for a moment like she was sizing me up. "Charlie, you mind taking a minute to help her try on the shake outfit? It really does take two people to get it on."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Bells?"

"Yes, definitely," I said eagerly. This was a chance for me to have my own money so I could buy myself a dress. I was hoping this job would solve my problem.

"Okay," he said with a shrug and we followed Sue to the back office where a huge shake cup costume was sitting in the corner. "Hey, Harry, my girl would like to try your shake on for size."

Harry clapped his hands. "Alright, you ready to help me prove my wife wrong? She thinks this is a waste of money, but I tell you, people are going to see this shake standing out on the sidewalk and think, mmm, that sounds really good right about now, why don't we head into the diner for a shake? It's a gold mine, Charlie, just waiting to be dug into."

My dad chuckled as they lifted the massive shake cup costume over me. It covered me almost completely, going all the way down to my mid-thighs, leaving my arms exposed from the elbow down. I just hoped I didn't trip or I would be SOL for being able to get myself up. There was a cute face painted on it with long lashes, and there were two large eyes on the shake made of a screen type material so I could see out but no one could see in.

I think I was going to like this job.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	11. Chapter 11

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, and I just write it.

Chapter 11 Shaking things up

Armed with a plan to earn money to buy myself a dress, I was ready to face the crowd at school again. I was sure I could find something nice once I was paid. It just so happened that I would be paid eighty-five dollars a weekend for working ten hours. Just five hours on Saturday and Sunday, and they were going to pay me in cash. I would be able to go shopping on Monday.

I, however, was not prepared for being attacked by Alice Cullen. I was walking out of the parking lot when Edward pulled up next to me. Alice jumped out of the car and started pulling me into the back seat.

EPOV

"I called your dad, he knows we have you," Alice said and the look on Bella's face was priceless. It was like we were kidnapping her or something. I had to admit, the way Alice worded it, it did kind of sound like we were kidnapping her for ransom. It just so happened that this ransom was her acceptance of eyewear.

I pulled up to Port Angeles Optical clinic and held the door open for the girls. Bella actually glared at me. Alice was obsessively patting Bella's frizzy hair to no avail, grumbling about her lack of using proper hair products. Bella kept swatting at Alice's hands trying to get her to leave her alone.

"We're here for Bella Swan's contact lens appointment," Alice announced. It was easy for her to find where Bella had her records because there was only one eye place between Forks and Port Angeles. Alice took it upon herself to call in and make an appointment in Bella's name, pretending to be her.

"Alice," Bella hissed, but Alice ignored her objection like she did when anyone disagreed with her.

"They're already paid for," Alice said. "Don't waste my money now by refusing them."

At that, Bella pouted and glared at Alice when the lady called her back.

Alice found the display of contact lenses cases and solution and bought a pink sparkly case and eight bottles of solution. I looked at her confused. "She has no reason to not wear them now."

"Alice, I don't want you overstepping your bounds and making her feel uncomfortable."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I didn't. I just bought her contacts and some solution and replacement contacts if she loses one or whatever. Oh, don't give me that look, you know you like the idea of her losing those awful glasses."

I didn't say anything, because she was right. Did that make me a shallow jerk because I liked the way she looked without those horrible glasses? I didn't get a chance to answer because she stepped out of the 'fitting' room and completely distracted me with her gorgeous eyes. The contacts made them look even bigger, and the deep chocolate color of her eyes was even richer.

She bit her lip, nervously looking down at the ground and Alice bumped me. "Told you so," she sang.

"Ready to go?" I asked and she nodded yes. It didn't escape my notice that Bella had her old glasses hanging from that button on her shirt. You know the one. Her breasts were on display, and between her eyes and her chest, I was finding myself very distracted. Alice knocked me again and told me to look at her face, which was now blushing a deep red. Her pink cheeks were cute.

"Come on, Charlie wanted us to feed her and bring her down to the hospital," Alice said leading the way. That girl was going to be the death of me.

Bpov

I had to admit; once I got used to wearing contacts, I really liked them. I figured if I saved some of my money from my weekend job that I would be able to afford to maintain them. Of course, I wouldn't have to buy anything for a while since Alice went nuts and bought eight bottles of solution, and what the heck did she think I was going to do with a pink sparkly contact case? Didn't she know they came with a plan white one?

Of course, no one noticed the change. Not even Dr. Banner, who I thought if anyone would have noticed, it would have been him. But I suppose if he did notice me that closely, it would have been creepy. My mom said I looked beautiful, but that was her job. My job, on the other hand, was to dress up like a giant shake and hand out one dollar off coupons for them, coaxing people into the dinner.

I thought I would be more embarrassed, but my costume had thin pink tights over which I wore black fish net stockings, with heeled buckled black shoes from the fifties. I had pink gloves that went up to my elbows. The pink all matched the top of the strawberry flavored shake I was wearing.

This job was harder than I thought it would be, as the first time I stepped outside, a little kid started screaming and crying and his mother hit me with her purse. I moved away from the entrance of the diner in hopes that I didn't frighten anymore customers away. I was worried if this giant costume had the opposite effect that I wouldn't get paid. I stood on the side of the diner facing the highway and waved to people. I had to move back as some water from a puddle was splashed up, but luckily it missed me.

By the end of the day, I had only passed out six flyers. The problem with Harry Clearwater's plan was that Forks was not a booming metropolis with streets filled with pedestrians. There just wasn't a lot of foot traffic walking past that wasn't already going into the diner. His wife pointed this out as he took my handful of flyers. This led me to worry for my job, though. I didn't want to lose it the first weekend I had it.

"What if I walk down Main Street? I mean, do I have to stay right here?" I asked.

Sue rolled her eyes and Harry clapped his hands. "I knew you were a smart girl. Okay, tomorrow's shift I want you up and down Main Street passing out flyers."

I nodded yes in agreement. I had saved my job for one more day. I hoped that I would at least earn enough before Sue talked some sense into Harry.

Once I was changed out of the milkshake costume, Sue called me over to come eat. I guess my dad called and told her he would be at the hospital again this evening. The Clearwater's were among the few that knew about my mother's illness. Sue brought me some dinner and told me that I was welcome to hang out this evening if I wanted. I finished my dinner and then helped Sue with the dishes. I knew she wasn't going to charge me for the meal and I wanted to make it up to her somehow.

I turned to Sue and hugged her before I stepped out into the evening air. It was only five o'clock and I looked around wondering if I should just go straight home or if I should wander around a bit and plot my course for work tomorrow.

I wandered to the far end of Main Street and then started back down again. Sue called me back into the diner looking worried.

"Bella, your dad called looking for you. He left your mother's number for you to call."

I took the number and walked back into Harry's office. He gave me a sad smile and walked out.

"Hello?" my dad answered stiffly.

"Hey, Dad, did you need something?"

"I was just checking on you. You didn't go home after work."

"I was just plotting out my course for work tomorrow."

"Oh," he grumbled.

"So, I think I'll have enough money to buy a dress on Monday. When will mom be coming home to take me?" I asked hopeful.

"Bella, I think it's time you think about getting a driver's license. Your mom can't take you shopping every time you want something," he snapped. I knew he was just stressed over mom's health but it hurt.

"Okay," was my answer.

"Go home and get some rest. I won't be home again tonight so be sure to lock up."

"Okay, night, Dad," I said and hung up before he figured out that I was upset.

"Is everything okay?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, he was just checking up on me. I guess he was worried when he couldn't get me at home."

"Oh, okay then, do you need a ride home?" she asked.

I shook my head no. I knew I was supposed to be going home, but it was the last place I wanted to be right now.

The problem was I had nowhere to go. I had no friends to visit or anyone to talk to who knew about my situation with my mother.

Just as that thought came to mind, I remembered Edward. I looked down the road and looked up at the sky. It wasn't too late yet. I could probably get there before it got really dark. It wasn't like there would be anyone waiting for me at home. It was then, before I had even mentally decided, when I realized that my feet had already started moving me in the direction of his house. I guess my body was in agreement.

We were going to see Edward.

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	12. Chapter 12

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 12 The profound music of silence

It was dark by the time I arrived at the Cullen home again. There were still some lights on as I stood at the end of the drive, but I lost my nerve. I couldn't go to the door. They were nice, but nice in a way that they asked you how your day was and expected you to reply with fine, even if it wasn't. They didn't want you to expound. They didn't really want to know how my day was. I leaned against the tree at the end of the driveway in the darkness. I watched in silence as the house lights slowly went out one by one.

They were asleep and I was still alone. I had no one.

I had walked all this way and decided I at least wanted to get one look at Edward. I wanted to see if he was real. I half expected him to have a planning board with the words 'How to make a fool of Isabella Swan at the dance' scrawled across it. It would kind of make my life easier if he had one. I would know not to trust him. I would know not to open myself up to him and his sister, but as I stood outside his window, that was not the case. There was no board. Just Edward sitting on his bed plucking on his guitar, and I was once again silently cursing the sound proofing of his room.

I didn't know how long he played, but I sat and watched, and then I frowned as I saw his lips begin to move. I couldn't hear him. I wished I could. I let out a sigh and watched his face change as he sang. His expressions were amazingly heartfelt and I wanted to know what song he sang that was affecting him so strongly.

I leaned back and tried to read his lips but I couldn't. He would often look down at his guitar as he sang and it made me feel frustrated and ignored. I almost banged on the window and told him to look up, or better yet open the damn window so I could hear, but I didn't. I stopped myself before the insanity set in. I separated myself from him for a moment. I turned my back to his house and leaned on the wall next to the window, not realizing in my frustration that I had slid down the wall until my hand came in contact with a piece of tissue.

I jumped, thumping against the wall for a second time. I was so stupid. I needed to get out of here. I had started walking away when I heard the window to his room slide open. "Hello?" he said and looked out into the darkness. I stepped into the shadows. "Is anyone there?" he asked. I shook my head no in answer. No, I was not here.

He stood there for much too long of time. I felt his eyes find me in the darkness; he was staring at me but I knew he couldn't see me. I hoped he couldn't see me. If he did, he didn't call out to me or let on that he saw me. He finally moved back into his window but left it open. I was about to leave but heard the opening strains of a song.

He was playing again and now I could hear. I was drawn back to his window by an invisible force. I had to hear him.

I woke up cold and damp on the grass. I heard Edward's alarm clock going off and looked around confused. I guess I had fallen asleep listening to him play. It was still kind of dark outside. I assumed Edward would be getting up for his run soon and I needed to get out of here before he found me.

I stumbled to my feet and realized I was standing back away from the house and was in plain view of him if he woke up, or in view of anyone who looked out the window. I had settled down out here last night to avoid the tissues. I just hoped no one saw me. I quickly ran to the forest edge and made my way off their property. I didn't know what time it was, but I knew I had to get home and get ready for work again. Today was my second day and I would be getting paid. I felt excitement build in my stomach. My first paycheck, that was something, right?

I was smart this time and avoided Edward's jogging path. I didn't want him to catch me out here again. Between thinking someone was outside his window and finding me, who just happened to be on this side of town, it would be too many clues.

I finally made it home and let my tired legs carry me up to the bathroom. I sat in the tub, letting the warm water relax my tight legs. I reached my toes and stretched and realized how screwed I was because I was supposed to be up and walking around for five hours dressed as a giant strawberry shake in that heavy costume. I was sure I was going to die, or my legs fall off. I really needed to get over my obsession with Edward Cullen. My legs just couldn't handle it. I think sleeping in the cold just made the pain worse.

I finally got up and got ready for work. I looked at my mother's old green station wagon and sighed. I used to call it the booger mobile. She would laugh and we would go and have fun anyway. I missed how we used to do that. I think that maybe my dad was right. Most kids my age had their license, and right now as I walked to work, I wished my mom was here to give me a ride. I wished she was here to help me figure out if Edward was really a nice guy, and I hoped that she got better soon so we could go dress shopping together. We always had a good time going together. I knew my hoping was in vain, though. My dad already let me know that she couldn't take me. I frowned and straightened my shoulders, trying to shake off the sudden lonely feeling. I was seventeen, in less than a year I would be eighteen and considered an adult. I could take care of myself.

The ringing of the bell on the diner door brought me out of my thoughts and I smiled at Sue as she walked over and gave me a hug.

"How are you this morning?"

"Okay," I said. I didn't say fine. She gave me a hug and I think I hugged her back too tight for too long because I was missing my mom. She didn't pull away, just kissed my head, and when I finally let her go, she gave me a teary smile and brushed the hair off my face.

"I'll have something for you to eat when your shift is up."

I nodded okay. "Thanks," I said. It had been a long time since someone had looked after me like Sue and it did help ease the pain a little.

I put on my shake outfit and started up Main Street. I passed out eight flyers and felt like I was doing better this time around. I was at the far side of the town; it was only about two miles long mind you. Really not a bad walk compared to the one to the Cullen house. I leaned against a building to rest because my legs were sore and I felt stupid for walking so far last night and this morning. I was not there long when I heard someone talking, but I didn't know who it was. They sounded familiar but they weren't in my sights. I could only see straight ahead, not to my side which was where they were coming from. I knew it sounded stupid now, but I stood completely still so they wouldn't notice me. Yeah, just ignore the giant shake.

Okay, they must have been stupider than I was because they kept talking, and after a moment I was able to place the voice. It was Tyler Crowley. He was talking with his lackeys about getting Edward at the dance. Tyler was pissed that Edward had broken his nose and made him look like a fool in front of his girl.

"There's a rumor going around that he's taking Smella to the dance."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Oh, this is perfect. We can get them both at the same time," Tyler squealed like a stupid giddy girl. "She needs to go down for good," he clapped his hands. "Oh, genius idea! We'll make it look like Cullen did it. Her dad will put him away for good."

"Awesome! Two birds with one stone. You rock, Tyler."

"I know, dude. I know."

I stood there, stunned and terrified. I couldn't move. I didn't want them to notice me. I heard them start talking about stupid video games and their voices started getting faint. I finally took a deep breath and realized I was crying. Why couldn't those assholes just leave me alone?

I got up and started walking down the other side of the road. By the end of my shift, I had passed out twenty-six flyers and Harry greeted me excited, telling me they had fifteen people come in with flyers. The shake outfit was working. I was boosting business and he paid me one hundred dollars. The bonus was because I took the initiative to leave the diner and seek more people out for him. I also suspected my dad might have told him I was hoping to by a dress.

Sue served me dinner at the bar and slipped me a piece of berry cobbler. "You look like you could use some cheering up."

I shrugged.

"You know, I get off here at 4:00 p.m. If you want, I could drive you into Port Angeles to find a dress."

I looked up at her sadly. I didn't want to waste my money on a dress if it was just going to get ruined by the likes of Tyler Crowley.

She came around and hugged me again. "Listen, baby girl, your mom wouldn't want you to be this upset. You know she's going to be fine with time."

I nodded, not sure what to tell Sue.

"Why don't you go home and take it easy for the rest the day. You call me if you change your mind. I know Harry wouldn't mind letting me slip out to go shopping with you."

"Thanks, Sue."

As I walked home, I realized I had to find a way to get out of my date with Edward. I wiped the tears from my cheeks. I guess I proved myself right. Nothing good could happen in my life without something worse coming to ruin it.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	13. Chapter 13

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 13 The blind and the obvious.

I spent the rest of Sunday night trying to think of ways to break my date with Edward Cullen. I wished I had a friend to ask how to do it but I didn't. Maybe I could contract an illness; yes, a major illness that made it so I couldn't dance.

Come Monday morning, I was a mess. I had just finished eating my breakfast when my dad came in. "Morning, sweetheart, how was work?"

I gave him a fake smile. "It was great."

"You got paid didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Did you, uh, want me to take you to buy a dress or something?"

"No thanks, Dad. You know, dances really aren't my scene. Maybe I'll just catch up on some reading."

"Bella," he said with a sad sigh and sat down. He took my hand and I fought back some tears. "Did that boy…?"

"No." I wouldn't let him blame this on Edward. "I just…you know. I'm going to be going to college in a year, so I was thinking I need to stay focused. I don't want some silly boy distracting me. It'll be better if I save my money for that."

He grimaced and squeezed my hand. "Your mother wants to see you, honey. Is it alright if I pick you up from school?"

"Sure, Dad."

He kissed the top of my head. "Just…you know…think about it before you go canceling, okay, honey? I know I'm not the one you want to shop with, but I'm okay with taking you."

I smiled genuinely at him this time. I knew he was worried about me. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders with my mom being sick, and now he was worried about my boy troubles. They seemed so silly next to the real problems in our lives. It just solidified my decision. "Thanks, Daddy."

He kissed the top of my head again and went upstairs so he could change and head back to the hospital.

I spent the rest of the day at school doing my best to avoid everyone. Everyone, as in Tyler and his lackeys, and Edward.

I was surprised when I was accosted by Alice. "Bella, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom."

I shushed her. "Look, can we please not talk about this? Just leave me alone," I said with a little more force than I meant to. I hadn't taken three steps away when I finally stopped in my tracks and looked back at a shocked Alice. "I'm sorry," I said. "I just want to be alone." I rushed off before she could try and convince me otherwise.

My dad was waiting for me in the parking lot after school. I quickly jumped in his car before anyone could notice me. He looked at me worried as we pulled up to the hospital. "She's doing a lot better, sweetheart."

I nodded okay and pulled my backpack together. He opened my door and helped me out of the car like he always did. It reminded me of when I was little and he first explained I was his princess and it was his job to help me out of the car, even if I wanted to jump out on my own. I smiled and wrapped my arm around his, leaning into his side for comfort. I hadn't realized how much I missed my daddy until right this moment.

"How is my Isabella?" my mother called from the door. She was still sitting behind the plastic, but I was used to this kind of treatment. I pulled my chair up and pressed my hand into the plastic so she could take it. Her hand always felt so cold and I took comfort in the heat of my hand in the plastic to warm hers.

"I'm doing fine, Mom."

"That's not what I hear." She gave me a soft smile. "Daddy tells me you're wanting to back out of your date. Did something happen with the boy?" she asked.

I shook my head no.

"Isabella Marie Swan, why don't you want to go on the date with Edward? He seemed like a perfect gentleman when I met him."

I blushed remembering that he had met my mother, here of all places.

"I just don't want to get distracted from my school work," I said lamely.

"Bullshit," she said and I looked up at her shocked. My mother very rarely swore, if ever. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you're going to that dance if I have to roll this bed out of here and drag you myself."

"Mom."

"NO! No buts. I don't know what's wrong, but I worry that you're worrying too much about me which is just silly. You're a young beautiful woman and it's time you start acting like it. You're not a forty year old maid."

My free hand gripped my backpack a little tighter and I let out a huff. My mother was so blind. She really thought me pretty which was just silly. I just didn't have the heart to tell her that I knew I wasn't.

"I want you to go to this dance, honey, for me, please?" she begged.

I let out a groan; she was pulling out the big guns. I nodded okay and my mother squealed. She clapped her hands, releasing mine. "Charlie, honey, go take her to get a dress, baby, and do it quickly, before she changes her mind."

My dad gave me a soft smile and pulled me into his arms. "Thank you, honey," he whispered into my hair. "This means a lot to her."

EPOV

Something was up with Isabella Swan. I could swear she was trying to avoid me again but I didn't know why. I sniffed my armpit. I remembered deodorant. It wasn't my smell. I couldn't understand why this girl was the only girl in school that didn't want me. I was not being arrogant, it was just fact. I rubbed my face frustrated and wondered if the reason I wanted her was because she didn't want me.

You always want what you can't have, I thought ruefully. That usually wasn't my way, though. I was pretty content in my life, especially since I finally made it back with my sister, Alice. I would admit that I did act out after I lost my parents, but I didn't think I did anything that warranted military school. Of course, this was not Carlisle's opinion. He was an ass and thought we need to 'nip the problem in the bud' before I got out of hand. Bastard seemed to enjoy shipping me off just a little too much if you asked me.

It wasn't military school that settled me down, but the therapist that Esme insisted I see. Dr. Denali was very helpful in helping me deal with my parent's death. I knew it wasn't my fault that they were gone, and they loved me and would be here if they could. She also encouraged me to continue my music, and Esme, the wonderful aunt she was, knew I would want to do it in private. I was surprise when I returned home from military school to find she had moved my belongings to the downstairs guest room. She had sound proofed it and even bought me my own piano to play if I wanted. She had littered the room with various instruments and a work desk if I wanted to write down any music that came to mind.

When I saw the room, I knew then that Esme loved me, and my mother had chosen her to care for me and my sister for a reason.

BPOV

I directed my father to the second hand store that my mother planned to take me to originally. I think he was a little surprised, thinking I wanted something new. I did originally when I took the job, but I didn't anymore now that I knew Tyler Crowley was going to do his best to ruin it. I was not wasting my hard earned money just for him to do his worst.

My dad didn't question me and we walked over to the back wall full of long formal dresses from every era. Their prices were phenomenally good, even if a large majority of the dresses weren't. Just saying. My dad had suggested a few, but I asked him to please stop helping as I laughed at him when he held up a shiny deep peach and green taffeta dress. I would have looked like a carrot princess in it. He figured since it was fluffy, it was pretty, right? My dad was impossible not to love. He wandered down the aisle a bit more and frowned when he got to the section of white dresses. I knew they were wedding dresses. I was sure he knew as well by the sad look on his face. Luckily for him, there was a good chance he would never be walking me down the aisle.

I went back to digging through the dresses when I heard him call to me. "Hey, Bells, what about this one?" he asked.

I turned to see that in the midst all the white was one red dress. I looked at it confused but saw the long trained back. It was a red wedding dress. I didn't think my father realized it was a wedding dress, as he was a traditional man, but it actually was a beautiful dress, and it looked like it might fit.

I walked over as he held it up excited. The smile on my dad's face was enough to make me want to try it on. The fact that it was beautiful as well just gave me all the more reason. (Dress is on profile.)

The red satin bodice hugged me perfectly, as if it was made just for me. There was a spray of crystal gems across the top of the bodice which highlighted my full breasts that were being pushed up by the built in foundation, creating quite the display of cleavage. The deep burgundy wine color was perfect against my pale skin. The skirt billowed out in thick satin, pinned up and tucked at intervals with clusters of crystal gems. I looked like royalty in it.

There was a knock on the dressing room door. "Does it fit, Bells? Can I see?" my dad asked and I opened the door.

His breath caught and he gave me a big watery smile as he stepped back, taking me in. He finally found his voice. "You look so beautiful, Isabella. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, Dad, I do," I said smiling in return. I felt like a princess.

"Great, well, pack it up and we'll take it home."

As I carried the dress to the check out, I saw a pair of shiny high heels on a little display of dress up shoes. The rounded toe and platform was covered in sparkly gems, and so were the thin straps that would wrap around my ankles. I looked at them, checking the size. My dad saw them and smiled. "Those would look great with the dress."

"I hope they fit," I said passing him the dress and then slipping my feet into the shoes. They did fit just perfectly, but it would take some getting used to walking in them.

"They look good, honey," my dad said with a smile.

"Thanks, Daddy. I think I'll get them, too." He followed me up to the front counter, me with the shoes and him with the dress. The woman looked at me curious. She knew it was a wedding dress.

"It's for prom," I said before she could ask.

Her judgmental glare turned to a smile. "Oh, how exciting, and I see you found some shoes to match," she said as she rang up the items. "That'll be thirty dollars."

I reached for my backpack but my dad was faster. "I got this, honey. Mom wanted to get your dress, so we're getting it."

I looked up at him shocked and he squeezed my shoulder. "Just let us do this for you."

I hugged my dad and he kissed my head.

"Oh, you got a sweet daddy, honey. You don't lose touch with him," the woman said and winked at my dad. He blushed in response. I think this chick was hitting on my father. GROSS!

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	14. Chapter 14

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, and (she also added her special touch to this chappy), I just write it.

**Dress Pictures on my profile**.

Chapter 14 Predicting the future

BPOV

Thank heavens my grandmother had taught my mom, and thus me, how to sew, leaving us her old dressmaker sewing machine that was still a workhorse. It was the only reason most of our clothes didn't look like Swiss cheese. I pulled it out, along with her well stocked sewing basket, and got to work.

I spent the rest of the evening working on my dress. Yes, the dress was perfect; however, it was still a wedding dress with a train, but thankfully not a very long one. I carefully took off the bottom row of gems and released the material from its gathers before cutting off the train, and then I re-hemmed the bottom at floor length. Of course, this left me with a large piece of material, and so I decided to make myself a wrap. To be honest, I was a little nervous about wearing a strapless dress, and I couldn't see wearing one of my flannel shirts over it. The extra material was kind of perfect, especially since it was already in the shape needed to make the wrap. I trimmed a little of the edges off so it wouldn't be so big, but it looked nice once I finished. I laid back and looked at the extra gems just sitting there next to the scraps and decided to make a choker. I didn't have any jewelry so this would be perfect and it would match flawlessly.

I realized the next morning that I had let the excitement of the dress get away from me. I was being stupid spending so much time on a gown that would most likely be ruined. I shook my head in shame. I had to find a way to make sure Edward didn't get in trouble for whatever prank it was they were going to pull. I just wished I knew what they were planning so then I would know what to watch for. I had a feeling my dad was going to be really upset when he saw whatever they did to the dress he had bought me.

I was eating breakfast when my dad came in and kissed the top of my head. "How are you this morning, button?"

"Good," I said hiding my grimace.

I heard some rustling and realized he was making a lunch to take with him to the hospital. I knew then where the money had come from. He gave up his lunch money so I could have a dress. It was really starting to piss me off that Tyler was going to ruin it.

I was still pissed when Alice found me at school. She approached carefully. "Bella, I was just wondering what color your dress is."

"Red."

"Brick red, rose red, blood red, barn red…?" she rattled off proving her point.

"I don't know, burgundy wine, kind of a purply red?"

She let out a frustrated harrumph and finally insisted that she come to my house after school to see it. I agreed because I didn't think she would not come over no matter what I said anyway. I dragged myself into biology, intent on getting out of it when I saw the microscopes out on the tables. It was a lab and I was stuck with Edward.

I moved to my seat and set everything up for the lab, making everything neat and organized in hopes of making it quick and painless. I realized after I had finished that I should have left the table a mess so I could have pretended to be busy and not speak to him.

He slid into the seat next to me. I was doing my best to focus on the worksheet when he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Alice tells me you have a dress."

I nearly fell off my seat. He did a horrible job of hiding his smirk. I threw my pencil at him but he caught it and let out a chuckle. He reached out his hand to me and pulled me straight on my seat so I was no longer in danger of falling.

"So, I'll be coming over to your place after school. Alice wants to see what color the dress is so I get the right flowers to go with it."

"You don't need to get me anything. It's just a waste of money," I said feeling annoyed that Tyler would be ruining my flowers as well. The first ones I would ever receive from a boy. Stupid jerk. It was making me more irritable and I think I was taking it out on Edward.

I worked quickly, finishing up the lab so I could escape to the library. Thankfully, Dr. Banner was always okay with me slipping out so I could study more on animals on my own. He knew I planned on being a vet someday and he encouraged my interest in the area. Thank heavens for good grades.

EPOV

Something was up with Bella. She seemed irritated by me and I wasn't sure why. I thought maybe she was having a bad day and just needed space, thinking she was worried about her mom. I didn't get it. Most girls liked to talk to me and hang around me. I was always pushing Tyler's blonde bimbo away from me. She had a whole herd of skanks that would accost me anytime I came into sight. I did my best to hide from them. I found it ironic that the one girl I wasn't hiding from seemed to be trying to hide from me.

I was pleasantly surprised when Alice found me after school and she was excited because apparently Bella was expecting us. I was pretty sure my pushy little sister didn't give her much choice in the matter but who was I to complain. I was happy to be going. I was hoping to get some answers as to why Bella was giving me the cold shoulder.

I looked across the parking lot and saw Bella heading home on foot. I jumped in the car and told Alice to hop in fast so we could pick up Bella on the way home. I came to a screeching halt next to her and realized I might be a bit too eager when she startled and fell over into a drainage ditch. I jumped out of the car apologizing.

"Oh, my god, Bella, I'm so sorry. I was just going to offer you a ride. Alice said you were expecting us and so I thought it silly that we drive over to your place and wait for you to walk home alone."

"Ah, damn it," she cursed and I was a little surprised. I had helped her up but realized she had yet to put her foot down.

"Bella, are you okay?"

"No, I think I sprained my ankle," she said and let out a huff.  
>I scooped her up into my arms and quickly set her in the front passenger seat that Alice had graciously left open for her.<p>

"Well, I guess you can't turn the ride down now," I said a little too pleased with myself.

She grimaced and then looked away from me, not engaging in mine and Alice's attempts of conversation.

When we pulled up to her house, I quickly ran around and grabbed her door, and then opened Alice's door as well. Dad always said we needed to treat Alice like a lady, so she would never settle for being treated like anything less. He gave me this lecture after I shoved her out of the way so I could steal the swing. Apparently, 'ladies first' wasn't just a lame saying. It was law in the Cullen household, and so was getting the door and chair, and helping a lady with her coat. I got why my dad had made it a priority, but it sucked growing up and dealing with my spoiled little sister. Of course, I still did it now to honor my dad's wishes. No one would ever treat little Alice like less than a lady.

Bella was hobbling up the stairs and I came up to help her before she fell off her front porch. The girl must have had a death wish or something. She let out a sigh as she unlocked the door, but then suddenly turned to me and smiled. "My ankle's sprained. You can't take me to the dance because my ankle's sprained!" she said a little too excited.

"We'll just see about that. Let's get you inside and off of it before we make any snap decisions," I said a little hurt that she was so quick to want to get out of the date with me. I mean I was a fairly nice looking guy. I had always been nice to her.

"Where's the dress? In your room? Edward, carry her to her room. There's no way she's getting up the stairs on that foot," Alice ordered and I was kind of glad my sister was there. Bella tried to protest but I wouldn't have it. I was surprised at how light and thin but solid she was. It certainly wasn't evident under her oversized clothing. I pulled her body tight against mine and she blushed and hid her face in my shoulder. I could have sworn that she sniffed me but I couldn't be sure. I was thankful that I remembered my deodorant this morning.

When Alice opened the door, there was red everywhere. I realized after a moment that it was her dress, and pieces of it.

"You cut it up?" I asked.

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Put me down already," she grumped. Alice started looking through the mess and picked up the dress, laying it out on the bed next to Bella.

"Wow, that's pretty," I said. I didn't know what she had cut off of it, but it looked great the way it was now. I noticed a pair of strappy high-heeled sandals sitting on her bed that my imagination was having a field day with envisioning them on Bella, making her long, toned legs look even more amazing in my mind.

"You made a matching wrap with this extra material!" Alice squealed and I flinched. I was surprised dogs didn't start barking.

"I made a choker, too. Look," Bella said pointing to the top of her little dresser. I realized she didn't have a closet. The only door in this room was to go out.

"Oh, Bella, it's beautiful. What are you going to do with the extra gems? I could use them to make matching earrings for you, and maybe a hair clip or something. Oh, you have to let me take them and do it!"

"I don't see the point now, Alice; my ankle is sprained. There's no way I can dance on this," she motioned to her foot.

"Edward, get her some ice, now! Find her some ibuprofen, that'll stop the swelling. Don't worry, Bella. We'll get your foot better, even if Edward has to carry you to all your classes." Bella groaned and flopped back on the bed.

I chuckled, that was until I realized that Alice might not have been joking…

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	15. Chapter 15

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 15 Genius in development.

BPOV

I sprained my ankle. Never in my life had I been so relieved that I had sprained my ankle until right now. There was no way they would make me go to the dance with a sprained ankle. It just couldn't happen, could it?

Alice was ordering Edward around like a drill sergeant. It was funny because Edward was so big and tough looking, and then there was little Alice who could make him jump. In fact, I think he did jump a couple of times as he rushed around gathering things up. Apparently, Alice was taking my dress and stuff so I could get ready at their house. She seemed more excited for me to go to this dance than to go herself. I mean, it was only junior prom, it wasn't even our senior prom, but you would think Edward and I were getting married the way she carried on.

"Alice, who are you taking to the dance?" I finally asked.

"Emmett McCarty. He seemed the nicest of all the lug heads. He was the one that Edward didn't beat down. He actually tried to cover for Edward but his story was too outlandish. It was really sweet of him to try, though."

I knew of Emmett but didn't know him. He usually was standing with the jerks that picked on me, but he never laid a hand on me, so I guess that was something.

"How does Edward feel about him taking you?" I asked.

"Well, he really doesn't get a say now does he?"

"So, he's okay with it?" I asked pretty sure he wasn't.

"No, but it's fine. That's where you come in. You need to keep my brother busy so I can have fun on my date."

I groaned. "Alice, I can't keep Edward busy, he doesn't even like me. He's just nice to me because you guys are good people."

"Good or not, you're still distracting him, missy. I'm going to get my first kiss if it's the last thing I do, so don't make me lock you both in a closet," Alice threatened and I think she might have been serious.

Edward came walking in with a bottle of water and my mind flashed to that night in his room. He held it in his hand and my cheeks burned. I was sure they both thought I was a little nuts when I just had to ask Edward about the water. "Do you like bottled water, Edward?" I asked.

He furrowed his brow and shrugged. "Yeah, I like it fine."

"So, are you saying you like other water better?"

"Um, no, I guess I like the taste of bottled water best."

I started snickering, making them both think I was off my rocker, and then smiled. "You know, Edward, I really like bottled water, too."

"OKaaay…" Alice started, "Now that we all agree that we like bottle water, we need to come up with a game plan for your ankle."

"A game plan?"

"Yeah, we're keeping you off it until the night of the dance. I'm sure you'll be fine by then. We have a whole week!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Look, are you sure you even want to bother with me? I mean, I know you guys really don't want to be seen with me. You're only going to cause trouble for yourselves. It would probably be best if Edward found a different date. Someone less accident prone."

"Alright, that's it!" Edward snapped. "What the hell is it about me that you can't stand? It's driving me nuts here. You're giving me a complex! I have to beg you to go out with me, and then you spend every minute of the day trying to find a way to get out of it. Don't think I don't know you're happy about your sprained ankle. I saw it! So just tell me, Bella, what's so bad about going to the dance with me?"

I had no idea I was making Edward insecure. I felt horrible now. I had to tell them. He needed to know it wasn't him. "It's Tyler," I whispered.

"Tyler? What does that douche have to do with anything?" Edward asked.

"I overheard him. He's going to do something to me at the dance and try and blame it on you so you get in trouble. He's pissed that you made him look bad in front of his girlfriend. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Edward."

"Jesus, Bella, why didn't you tell me that before!" Edward snapped.

I shrugged. "I figured if I just didn't go, then it wouldn't be a problem," I pouted.

Edward sank down on the corner of my much too small bed. He looked so defeated. I felt horrible for telling him.

"That's it! No one messes with my brother. That asshole is going down!" Alice snapped. She whipped out her phone. "Emmett! You have to get in with the old group again," she said. "I know, but they're planning something horrible to get back at Bella and Edward at the dance and we need to know the plan if we're going to make it backfire!"

Edward's head shot up, looking at her confused. Alice continued to talk and rattle off orders to Emmett like the little general she was. Once she was off the phone, she turned to Edward. "Call your buddy; see if he can come give us a hand. It'll be good to have a secret weapon we can use against them."

"Buddy?" I asked.

Alice smirked. "You don't really think just because Edward got out of military school for 'good behavior' that he was actually behaving? He just got better at what he was doing, thanks to a guy he met up with there."

Edward looked at his phone, "I can call him in a few minutes. They'll be doing checks right now and he's not supposed to have his phone."

"You'd better text him then. His phone should be on silent. Just text him to call you as soon as he can," Alice ordered. You would think she was the one in military school.

Edward sent off his text and about five minutes later his phone rang. "Hey, Jazz, you feel like dancing?"

He must have said something funny because Edward started laughing.

EPOV

I asked Jasper if he felt like dancing and his answer was, "You know I like you, Edward, but I just don't swing that way."

"I need you to come to prom. Will you be able to get away this weekend?"

"Hard up for a date, Eddie?" he asked laughing.

"No, dip wad, I need your help putting some assholes in place. They're after my date in a bad way and I caught wind that they're going to do something to her and try and pin it on me," I explained.

"Wow, it sounds like you're just making all kinds of friends."

"You know I only have eyes for you, Jazz. Do you have enough time to plan your escape?"

"Ah, lover boy misses me. Alright, I'll be there, and I'll even bring a date and the transportation for the evening."

"Awesome. Thanks, man."

"So, tell me a little about this girl you're taking. Is she spank-bank worthy?" he asked shamelessly.

"Yes, and she's sitting right next to me so I'm going to go now."

He started laughing his head off. "Hey, Edward, should I bring you a bottle of water so you can get off in the bushes before you pick her up?"

My eyes suddenly snapped up to Bella; bottled water. Did she know about bottled water and that was why she asked? It was the only way to get off in military school because the bathrooms were public. My face felt like it was on fire. "Nah, man," I said clearing my throat. I wondered if Bella somehow knew about my bottled water usage.

My nerves set Jazz into a laughing fit, the asshole. "Just for that I'm stocking the mini fridge in the limo with water bottles."

Asshole!

"So, do we have any idea what their plan is yet?" Jazz asked.

"No, but I have a man doing reconnaissance. He'll hopefully get the plans and let us know. He's actually friends with the loser."

"Friends? You have a double agent, Wardo? You know I don't like double agents."

"He's not too bad. He's actually my sister's date."

"That tight little black haired beauty?"

"Jazz, you say one more word about my sister and I'll come through the fucking phone and nail you myself."

He just started laughing.

He had only ever seen a picture of Alice and it was an old one at that, but he would continuously make comments on it. Nothing too crude, though, or he would be dead.

"So, this guy she's taking, did she say yes as part of the plan?"

"No, he asked her."

"A traitor asked your sister out and you said yes?"

"No, douche bag, I didn't say yes, but Alice isn't one to be ordered around."

"Hmm, Eddie, I think I'm liking your sister a little more."

"Seriously, man, if you make one more comment about my sister…"

"Fine, fine, tell me about her date. Can we trust him?"

"Yeah, he seems alright. He's just an overgrown jock, though. I don't gather he has a lot of brains in his head, though he can be pretty creative," I said thinking about Emmett's giant wolf story trying to cover for me.

"Good to know. What time am I picking you up?"

I looked over at Alice, wondering if I was doing the right thing introducing the mad prank genius that was Jasper Whitlock to her. Then I saw Bella sitting there with her foot up, so small and fragile, and the decision was made. I needed his help so I could end this once and for all. "Dinner is at 7:00 p.m. at my house. Esme's cooking."

"Oh, how intimate. Count me in, and let Esme know I'm looking forward to her cuisine."

"Thanks, Jazz."

"No problem, man. Let me know as soon as you get wind of what they're doing. The more time we have to prepare the better."

I hung up with a smile. With Jazz involved, this would most likely be epic.

A/N Thanks for reading please review


	16. Chapter 16

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 16 Restraint

EPOV

It took everything in me not to take off and beat Tyler down. I could put him in the hospital, making him miss the dance and save us all the trouble, but Alice wanted to be smart about it. She had heard of some of the things we had pulled off in military school so we could escape to have fun and also get back at some of the jerks and teachers at my old school.

Hell, I wanted to beat Tyler until he told me what was up and then we could make our plan, but again Alice wanted to wait for Emmett. I was surprised to find that Emmett was so willing to help. I was like Jazz, still wary of his loyalties, but Alice assured me that she had been talking to Emmett and he was all Team Swan now.

I didn't know how I felt about my sister talking to Emmett, though. Maybe I could get Jazz to bring a bug so I could listen in on the conversation; or better yet, one that would let me listen and butt in so I could say back the fuck off my baby sister. Yeah, I should ask him about one of those. I would also need a nut guard because I was sure Alice would want to hurt me once I used it.

That was one thing I learned from Jazz, planning for repercussions and having solid alibis. Once I started hanging out with Jasper, the head master was thrilled. I had been a troublemaker, but Jazz; he was supposedly a saint. He was excellent when it came to framing jerks. He kept the assholes in trouble and us on the dean's list. The only reason Jazz never went home for good behavior was because he was from a Texas military family. He was expected to graduate and then go to West Point. There was no out for him. I had to admit, though. He was a strategic genius. The military would definitely benefit from his joining.

I looked at Bella's small frame sitting on the bed. She and Alice were talking about the dance. She actually looked happy to go now that the truth was out. I could see that she trusted me, trusted us to keep her safe, and I started to feel guilty.

Truth was I felt a little like an ass for yelling at Bella for trying to back out of our date. She had explained how she had heard Tyler wanting to plan something to get at us and did everything she could think of to get out of the date to spare me.

She swore she did originally want to go on the date with me and even got a job to earn the money to buy her dress. I really felt like an ass when I heard that. Her dress was really pretty and I didn't want anything to happen to it, or her. My protective streak went into overdrive. No one would be touching my date. She was mine and her father would be entrusting me to keep her safe, and that was just what I would do. If there was one thing to be said about Edward Cullen, he was a man to be trusted. I would not let Chief Swan down.

BPOV

Edward looked like a caged animal pacing my room, like he was ready to attack. Alice had taken him out in the hall and supposedly calmed him down. I didn't know why he was so pissed. He wasn't the one they were really after. I guess he didn't like the idea of having something pinned on him.

I listened to Alice as she called Esme. "Yes, Aunty, Jasper Whitlock from school, the one that helped put Edward on the straight and narrow so he could come back to us. He and a date will be attending prom with us. I assume they'll be needing a place to stay. Yes, his date can stay in my room, and I think him staying in Edward's old room would be perfect. Thank you, Aunty," she said hanging up and turning to look at me. "So, we're going to need another set of tickets. If I give you the money, could you buy them?" she asked.

"Why can't you?"

"Because I'm a sophomore, silly. Only juniors and seniors can buy tickets. Emmett already bought ours and Edward bought yours, so you're the only one who hasn't been crossed off the list."

I guess at least this way I was sure to be part of the plan.

I was surprised when the next morning, I heard my father talking to someone in the kitchen. I started moving into the hall, but before I could get down the stairs, my father was at the bottom of them and smiled up at me. "Hold it right there, button. The Cullen kids told me you hurt your ankle." He came up the stairs and picked me up with ease.

I hugged my daddy and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, Daddy."

Edward and Alice were waiting in the kitchen.

"We've come to give you a ride to school," Alice said a little too cheerfully as my dad set me down at the table.

I was relieved when I saw that Edward was holding a pair of crutches. Thank heavens he would not be carrying me around school all day. If that didn't make a scene, I didn't know what would.

I ate some toast and then Edward helped me to the car. My dad seemed to really like Edward, which was just weird. I think it helped that Alice was there talking excitedly to my dad about the dance and insisting he come to dinner and take pictures for my mom to see.

Once we reached the school parking lot, Alice passed me some money. "Don't forget to by Jasper's tickets," she said excitedly and hopped out of the car as soon as Edward opened her door. He stood in my doorway with his hand outstretched and I blushed. He wasn't doing this because he liked me; he did it because he was a gentleman, I reminded myself. It was obvious, but I noticed Alice had waited for Edward to get her door. It was something she expected.

He helped me to lean on the side of the car as he pulled out my crutches, holding them out for me. "Thanks," I mumbled.

He smiled widely at me. "You're welcome. You let me or Alice know if you need help with anything or if someone is giving you trouble."

I nodded knowing just who he meant. He seemed satisfied and we went our separate ways.

I made my way to the table where they were selling the prom tickets. I was surprised to see a sour looking Jessica sitting there. I wondered how she got roped into selling the tickets.

"Hey, Jess, can I get a set of tickets?" I said pulling out the money.

"Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me."

"Um, no," I said holding out the cash. She let out a huff and snatched the money from my hand.

"Are you alright, Jess?" I asked.

She looked up at me for a moment and took a deep breath. I could see she was holding back tears.

"Has Mike bought tickets yet?" I asked.

Her brow furrowed and she looked down at the list. She shook her head no.

"Huh, I would have thought he would have bought some for you guys already."

Her eyes shot up to mine. "What do you know?" she asked a little excitedly.

"Um, nothing really, he hasn't asked you yet?"

Her shoulders slumped and she let out a huff. I guess that would be a no. I would have to mention Jessica's desperation to him. Hopefully, that would give him the courage to ask her.

He was in my math class and I sat next to him. I never spoke to him outside of chess club, but I figured I could probably get a few words out before he cringed away from me, freaking out that I was ruining his status.

"Mike, Jessica is freaking out because you haven't asked her to the dance yet," I whispered not looking at him, and when I turned to see if he had heard me, he was looking at me surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes. Why haven't you asked her?" I snapped. "She needs time to get her dress!" I whisper-yelled.

"She wants me to ask her?"

"Yes, definitely, you need to find her after class and put her out of her misery."

His smile was beaming. "Right, okay, cool. Thanks," he said and that was the end of our conversation. I had nothing else to say and I wasn't going to try and force him to associate with me more than required to turn Jessica's bitch face off. By lunch, Jessica was beaming and Mike was standing next to her smiling just as wide. I was surprised when Mike nodded in my direction to thank me for the push.

I noticed Alice and Edward sitting at a table deep in discussion about something, and Emmett was with Tyler putting on a good show. I decided to go sit in the hall and eat where no one would bug me. Out of sight out of mind usually worked best for me. It would give me a chance to slip quietly into the bathroom when I was done with my food to pick my braces and brush my teeth. Last thing I wanted to do was talk to Edward with crap in my teeth.

When I met up with him, he was waiting at our table. I slid the tickets to him silently but he smiled at me. "Thanks," he said softly.

He seemed really tense. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just hard not to take Tyler out myself. Alice doesn't want me sent away again."

"Don't worry; I'm sure you and your friend will figure out a way to get him that will be more effective," I reassured.

He let out a sigh and nodded. "You're right. I just wish I could find a reason to beat the shit out of him before then."

I let out a chuckle. "If I can find a way for you, I'll let you know."

He smirked at me. "Thanks, Bella."

His smiled made it feel like we were really friends. I suddenly felt very guilty for watching him at night. It was probably a good thing that my ankle was swollen. No way could I walk there and embarrass myself now by watching him. Once it got better, I would be sure to practice some restraint and stay away from his window.

Maybe.

A/N thanks for reading, please review.


	17. Chapter 17

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 17 Boost

EPOV

I had just stepped out of the school building to head to my car when I heard Tyler taunting Bella. Emmett was standing there looking torn between doing something and keeping his cover. In the end, I made the choice for him. I was running at top speed over to the small group, their backs to me. Emmett noticed me first and looked relieved.

Tyler gave Bella a hard shove, but Emmett caught her and I jumped on Tyler, beating the shit out of him. I felt someone start in on my back, but I grabbed the fist that hit me and pounded it down into Tyler.

We all heard the coach's whistle blow and I felt the other guy on me being pulled off. I saw Emmett holding Ben back and the coach had Eric. He told Tyler and I to back away.

"Now, what the hell is going on here?" the coach said glaring at all of us.

"He was picking on Bella and shoved her. She's on fucking crutches for god's sake! Why can't the asshole leave her alone and stop picking on a helpless girl!"

The coach turned to Emmett. "Is that the truth, McCarty? You seem like the only sane one here."

"Tyler shoved Bella and Edward came out of nowhere at him," Emmett said like he was describing a scene in an action movie. The coach rolled his eyes. Mine found Bella standing back a ways staring at the ground. Tyler was spitting blood and I couldn't help but smile.

"Tyler, you were on probation as it was for harassment. One more move like that and you'll be shipped off to an alternative school. Edward, you'll see me tomorrow during your free period for detention."

I grimaced, but it could have been worse. At least this way I could keep it from Carlisle that I had gotten into trouble.

"Tyler, you're coming with me to call your mom. You'll be suspended for starting the fight."

"Starting…I didn't start nothing! McCarty told you he came out of nowhere!"

The glare the coach gave Tyler made me smile. Tyler shut up and followed the coach. Emmett and the other two boys followed behind. Emmett gave me a wink and a discreet wave to Bella before he disappeared behind the doors.

I turned to Bella, who was still looking at the ground. When I lifted her chin, she had a slight grimace. "Are you okay? I didn't think Eric would jump in like that," she asked.

"Eric is more of a pussy than Tyler." Then something struck me as odd. "You didn't think Eric would jump in? Are you saying you planned this?"

"You said you wanted to beat up Tyler, and I wanted to do something nice for you since you were helping me out, so I mentioned to the coach that Tyler was harassing me and asked him to keep an eye on me as I crossed the lot to your car. I knew Tyler wouldn't be able to resist trying something."

"Then what took him so long?"

She shrugged. "Maybe he thought Tyler deserved a good beating, too. Coach Clapp and my dad are good friends, too, by the way. They watch the game together."

I started laughing. "So you set it up so I could get away with beating up Tyler?"

She shrugged again.

"Girl, you're a fucking genius. I think you're going to fit right in with the rest of us just fine."

Bpov

It had been four days since Edward had uttered the words that made my heart leap. He thought I would fit in just fine. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I was fitting in. I had no idea what the plan was or what was going on. I just knew Alice was crazy excited and was sure we were going to have an amazing time at the dance.

Her enthusiasm didn't stop me from becoming a nervous wreck. Thankfully, Alice had given me some kind of skin cleanser, and so even though my face was breaking out, it wasn't nearly as bad. I had a couple of small zits under my chin next to my neck, but they were pretty hidden. At least I hoped they were.

I was dressed in casual clothes, waiting for Edward to come pick me up. I heard a knock on the door and my father answered it.

I hobbled down the stairs. My ankle was doing a lot better, but I didn't want to push it. I was really hoping to wear my shoes tonight.

"Esme is expecting you at 7:00 p.m. this evening for dinner, Chief Swan. Don't forget your camera," Edward said with a smile. It was amazing to me how cool he was around my father.

My dad seemed just as happy to have him around, too, which made me even more nervous. I didn't want him making any comments and messing things up for me.

Edward helped me to the car like he had all week when he had been taking me to school. He asked how my ankle was doing and I told him it was doing a lot better and that I took some more pain killers in hopes to wear my nice shoes and do some dancing.

His smile was brilliant. "Oh, we're doing more than dancing tonight, Ms. Swan," he smirked, leaving me to wonder what the hell the plan was once again.

We pulled up to the Cullen's home, and as he was helping me out of the car, a long black Limo came pulling up next to us. Edward clapped his hands and ran over to the limo door. He flung it open and a tall blond guy came out and hugged Edward. "Jazz man, I'm so glad you're here. I want you to meet Bella."

I blushed lightly at Edward's excitement to introduce me to his friend.

"Good evening, Ms. Bella, it's nice to finally make your acquaintance," he spoke with a thick southern accent and gave me a mischievous wink.

Edward cleared his throat, shoving him away from me. "So, who did you get for your date?"

"Ms. Rosalie Hale, of course."

"Rosalie Hale, Dean Hale's daughter?" Edward asked shocked.

Just then, the drive got out of the limo and nodded to Edward. "What's up, man?"

"Demetri! Fuck, Jazz, you stole the Dean's limo?"

"Stole is such a harsh word, Edward; we just borrowed it, isn't that right, Demetri."

The Demetri guy just shrugged. "Sure, man, whatever you say. You want me to help you with the blonde?"

"Help? Help?" Edward said a little panicked.

Jasper nodded yes to Demetri, and I was a little shocked to see him pull a thrashing blonde haired girl out of the back of the limo tied up and gagged.

"Oh, fucking hell, Jasper!"

"Don't worry, man. She'll settle down. I told her I had proof her boyfriend, Royce, was a sick fuck but she didn't believe me."

"You're dating Royce?" Edward shouted at the girl hanging over Demetri's shoulder. "What the fuck are you thinking? Didn't your dad tell you we had video evidence of him attacking a girl? It got thrown out of court because it was a camera on private property that the owner was not aware of. Fuck, Rosie, I know you're pissed at your dad, but there's no way we're going to stand by and let that sick bastard hurt you."

"See, told you!" Jasper said in a sing-song voice.

I saw tears start to run down Rosalie's face. "You guys, let her down and untie her already," I said stepping forward to comfort her.

Demetri looked to Jasper who nodded at him. "Do as the lady says," he sent me another wink.

Once Rosalie was ungagged, she shouted at Jasper, "You bastard, when we get home, my daddy is going to kill you!"

"Or thank me more likely when I tell him you were sneaking out with Royce when I caught you."

Rosalie growled and I wondered if Jasper was really going to get away with kidnapping the dean's daughter.

"What on earth is taking so long? We haven't got much time to get ready!" Alice yelled from the porch.

"Coming," I said, hopping as I moved my crutches in her direction.

"Why don't you go freshen up with the girls, Rose?" Edward said and I heard her shoes clack angrily up the driveway behind me. She passed me easily and I watched as she stormed into the house.

I heard Edward sigh.

"Oh, come on now, don't be upset," Jazz implored, "You know I couldn't leave her to be hurt."

"Yeah, I know, I just hope the dean sees it that way."

"He will. I have video of Royce bragging about his plans for tonight. I also have video of him setting up his room for her. The fucker had some sick shit planned. I know the dean will be more than grateful for my interference."

EPOV

Once the girls were out of sight, I went over to Demetri and gave him a man hug. "Good to see you, man. Jazz better keep you out of trouble for boosting the Dean's Limo."

"You know Jazz; he keeps you out of trouble by keeping you in it. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right," I said knowing it was true.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, even if it was a little late coming," Jazz said. "Besides, we could use an extra pair of hands the others don't know about. It'll make us seem more like ghosts appearing everywhere."

Yeah, tonight would be epic.

A/N A lot of you guessed that Rose would be Jasper's date, but I bet you all thought she would be coming willingly! ;P Thanks for reading please review.


	18. Chapter 18

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 18 Guess what's for dinner?

EPOV

Jazz, Demetri, and I skimmed over the plan one last time before we headed into the house. Esme came walking in with hors d'oeuvres, only to halt her steps when she saw Demetri eyeing her like he was hungry for more than hors d'oeuvres. My aunt was a gorgeous woman, but I didn't think she appreciated his appraisal.

She cleared her throat trying to maintain her composure. "Edward, dear, who are your friends?"

"This is Jasper Whitlock and Demetri Fuller," I introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am," Jasper said with a little bow, thick on the accent. The fucker must be horny or something. I didn't know what was worse, him looking at my aunt or my date. I was ready to poke his fucking eyes out the way he was taking apart Bella in his head.

"Yeah, man, the same, pleasure and all that, honey," Demetri said with a wink.

Esme looked a little startled. Fuckers better cool it or I was sending them to the bushes with bottled water and tissues. I knew being in an all boys' school was tough, but this was getting to be a bit much.

Esme smiled tightly, set the tray down on the table, and walked out. Demetri actually leaned to the side to keep his eyes on her. I punched his shoulder. "What? You got one nice MILF," he said pissing me off more.

"She's my aunt," I snapped.

"Fine, AILF then, it's all the same to me."

Esme came back in with a tray of drinks and Carlisle came to join us, I was sure at Esme's request. Once she headed back to the kitchen, Carlisle glared at Demetri, who was watching her again. "I'll thank you not to look at my wife like a piece of meat."

"Mmm mmm, yeah, she does have a nice rump roast now doesn't she?" Demetri said grinning a little too widely at Carlisle.

"Why don't we all go to my room, guys? Emmett will be here soon and we can discuss what we're doing tonight," I said pushing them out of the room and down the hall to my bedroom. I didn't trust Carlisle not to lose it with Demetri. And he'd deserve it.

I shut the door and smacked Demetri on the back of the head. "What the hell, man! The last thing I want is that bastard of an uncle on my case again. You need to back off."

He shrugged, mostly ignoring me and taking in my room. "What's with the funny walls?" he asked pointing to them.

"They're sound proof," I stated plainly.

"Oh, nice. I'll bet that's perfect for when you have your girl over. You can really get her going. 'Oh, Edward! Oh, yes, fuck, yes, pound me harder, uh, uh, yes," Demetri went on faking his orgasm and I was mortified when the bedroom door opened and Emmett came in. Not so much that Emmett saw what was going on, but the girls could be heard laughing hysterically in the hall behind him. Yeah, so not cool.

"So, that's how you stay satisfied in an all boys' school. Sorry, Edward, if this is some dick pulling party, I don't yank that way."

I threw a pillow at his head and told him to shut the fuck up, and then I threw a book at Demetri because the two pillows I had already tossed at him had no effect on his fake orgasm.

"You seem to be really enjoying yourself over there," Jasper said with a smile and sat down causally. Demetri immediately stopped and scowled. It was amazing the kind of control Jasper had over people. I wasn't happy he had brought Demetri, who was a loose cannon, but at least Jazz was there to keep him under control. Some of us attended military school because our families sent us, others because the state sent them. Demetri was sent by the state for boosting cars. They were hoping it would straighten him out. It probably would have if he hadn't met Jasper.

BPOV

So Rose was being a complete bitch. I understood that she didn't want to be here and she was taken against her will, but it wasn't Alice and I that did it. She was slamming things around like mad and grumping like crazy.

"That's it," Alice snapped. "You need to calm the fuck down. There's no reason for you to be so mean to Bella and I. We had nothing to do with your kidnapping. You're here already, so why not make the best of it and let's have fun."

Rose crossed her arms mad.

Esme came in looking a little shook up. I was nervous as all get out to meet Edward's Aunt and Uncle. I mean that was the equivalent of meeting his parents for him. She grimaced when she looked at me, and Alice put her arm around me. She looked at Rose and her brow furrowed. "Dear, you're not dressed for the prom."

"It was a bit of a late decision to bring her, Esme, do you have something nice that she could borrow?"

"I suppose, but I don't think it'll fit as snuggly as it should."

"If you have a needle and thread, I could do a baste stitch that you can let out, but it'll hold for the evening," I offered.

Esme looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"I think I have a needle and thread," Alice said ignoring Esme's look.

Alice pulled out a small sewing box and handed it to me.

"Where did you get that?" Esme asked.

"It was Mom's," was all Alice had to say. Esme's expression softened and she motioned for us to follow her.

Esme pulled out three dresses and Rose picked out a long black one that was really beautiful and went well with the black heels she was already wearing. I had her put it on inside out and Alice held the other side since I didn't think we had time for pins.

"I'm making the knot with large loops so you just have to snip one side and then pull the other to have the dress back to normal," I explained to Esme. She watched me work curiously. It didn't take me more than ten minutes to get the dress to fit Rose like a glove.

Rose seemed to relax a little once we had the dress turned the right way and she saw that it fit beautifully and looked amazing on her.

We started back to Alice's room, but Alice saw Emmett from the landing and waved hello. "Edward is probably hiding in his room. It's the door right under this landing here," she explained.

We waited to make sure Emmett could find the room, and we knew he did when the house was filled with a moaning of Edward's name. "Yes, oh, Edward, fuck me harder, baby, uh, uh, so good." The door shut too soon so we didn't get to hear the rest of the 'orgasm'.

"Well, that was interesting," Rosalie said and continued to the room.

Alice and I were laughing so hard we almost fell off the stairs. I would have to find a way to ask Edward about that.

The next thirty minutes were a whirlwind of activity. We were all dressed and had makeup left to put on. Alice had taken it upon herself to slather me with 'makeup', but the girls insisted I looked great. Rose was working on my hair while Alice did her own. She used something Alice handed her and ran it through my hair, instantly taming my wild frizzy mess and making it smooth and shiny. Alice handed Rose six bobby pins with gems to put in my hair and Rose fashioned my spiraling curls into a partial up-do that cascaded down my back in smooth ringlets. She also passed me a pair of earrings made out of the same gems from my dress.

When Rose finally finished my hair, I tied the choker on and Alice smiled widely. "You look like a princess."

I looked in the mirror and smiled, she was right. I did look like a princess, a very well endowed one with sparkly breasts. Alice went a little crazy with the sparkly glitter powder.

"Now if I could just get your Aunt and Uncle to like me," I pouted a little.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Just show you're smart. I think they would be impressed if Edward was dating a girl with a brain. That rarely happens."

I nodded okay, trying to think of decent dinner conversation that would make me look smart. Maybe if I used some Latin. I knew a few Latin words from my studies of animals. That was a snobby language, right?

I picked up my shoes, but opted to put them on after I made it down the stairs. I didn't want to tempt fate. I was coming down the stairs when a few flashes went off. I looked up to see my dad standing there smiling. He took another picture of me smiling at him. I gave him a hug and kissed his cheek.

"You look beautiful, honey," he said softly.

"Thank you, Daddy." He took my arm and walked me to the dining room where he sat me in a chair and then took my shoes from me and put them on my feet.

"Your ankle is looking a lot better. How is it feeling?" he asked.

"It feels fine," I said.

Our quiet conversation was interrupted by a loud, "Damn, Ms. Hale, you look fine enough to eat! And look at that little Cullen Dumpling! I want to dip you in chocolate sauce and lick you clean."

I heard Alice giggle and stepped in behind the boys to see her give Demetri a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she said with her sparkling Alice smile.

I swear Demetri blushed.

"Don't encourage him, Alice," Edward growled.

Alice smacked Edward's arm, but before she could reprimand him, he asked where I was. He actually looked nervous. "Rose didn't upset her did she? She's still here, right?" The poor boy looked tortured. My dad smiled, a little too happy about that, and released my arm so I could go put him out of his misery.

I tapped his shoulder and he spun around like he was on fire. The movement knocked me off balance, but he quickly caught me in his arms. He smiled so wide and sweet with relief. "You're here."

"Yes, I am."

He took a step back and looked at me. "You look amazing."

"Thank you."

"Oh, sweet child…" Demetri started.

"Don't even think of commenting on my date. It's bad enough that you complimented my sister the way you did," Edward cut him off.

As soon as Edward turned his back again, Demetri gave me a few good hip thrusts, tweaked his nipple, and then licked his lips and winked at me. I guess that meant I looked good.

My father cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself for the first time. It was comical how the boys instantly straightened up at the sight of my father in uniform. I think Demetri was actually sweating and thumped Jasper's side a couple of times before nodding sharply in my father's direction.

"Chief Swan," Edward said coolly. I think Demetri actually paled more. "I'm glad you could make it. Did you want to take some pictures in the garden before dinner?" Edward offered.

At the word pictures, Esme popped in excitedly. "Oh, yes, we must have some pictures in the garden."

She noticed Demetri looking firmly at the ground as if he didn't know what anyone was talking about. Esme smiled over at my dad. I had a feeling Esme wasn't fond of Demetri's vernacular.

After a few pictures in the garden, we all descended upon the dining room. Esme asked Carlisle to help her bring in the roast duck and came back with a huge platter with a beautiful looking bird on it. Everyone started making comments on it, so I decided to join in and use some of my Latin as well.

"Your _anas_ looks amazing," I said smiling.

Everyone looked at me confused.

I cleared my throat; maybe they misheard me. "Your _anas_, it looks absolutely delicious. I'm sure it's finger licking good," I said a little worried.

Demetri broke the silence. "That's right, girl. Her anus is finger licking good. I told you, Edward, your aunt is an AILF."

I looked at them confused. I looked over at my dad who had his hand over his face chuckling.

"Your girl is freaky, Edward," Demetri went on, "You hang onto her or I'll snatch her away."

Edward looked just downright sick.

"Duck," my dad said laughing out loud, smirking even wider at Carlisle's guilty looking, red embarrassed face. "She's using the Latin term for duck, spelled A-N-A-S. I know it because I helped her study them."

It suddenly all clicked in my head that everyone thought I was complimenting Esme on her anus.

Oh, my god. I was going to die.

A/N Thanks for reading please review. We will get to the prom next chapter I promise. I just had to have a little fun before we got there.

FYI Duck is actually Anas in Latin, have fun with that. ;P


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry, I was struggling with this chapter. I will give more detail next chapter about the plan and what actually went down. Dollybigmomma not only beta'd this chapter but really polished the funny because my funny was falling flat. Sorry ladies.

So SM owns it, now you read it!

Chapter 19 A night of horns and halos

BPOV

Embarrassment wasn't terminal, right?

Needless to say, I was mortified. And even though dinner tasted wonderful, it was horrible. I would never be able to look at Esme Cullen, or a duck, ever again for the rest of my life. The whole meal, my dad kept glancing at her and Carlisle, snickering under his breath. I wondered why the man's face never did go back to the right color. From the glare Esme kept shooting at him, I would say Carlisle had some serious groveling to do.

I was relieved when we finally were able to get out of the house and on our way to the dance. Of course, that was short lived as everyone took turns randomly quacking, blurting out duck, _anas_, or finger licking good, and then everyone would start laughing all over again. Yes, now I had another reason to be completely mortified. Just ducky.

I was surprised that when we arrived at the school, Demetri acted like a real chauffer and opened our door for us. He gave Edward a wink and as soon as Edward looked away, he gave me a double hip thrust, causing me to smile at his antics. I had to admit, he looked kind of hot doing that.

The boys started talking; something about a vent at six o clock, but it was already going on nine. Then Edward told them to be ready. He opened the trunk of the limo and Rosalie actually rolled her eyes at what she saw. "Really? Night vision goggles? How original," she said sarcastically.

"Hey, it's our equivalent of an invisibility cloak," Jasper said with a wink and I noticed that Rosalie blushed. I wondered if she was a closet Harry Potter fan or something.

I noticed several things that looked like caulk guns. "What's with the caulking?"

Demetri rubbed his hand over himself. "I'll show you if Eddie here can't, I'm all about the cocking."

Edward shoved him. "Don't call me Eddie, and quit hitting on my date!" He seemed to be getting really annoyed with Demetri.

"D, you can get some poontain after the mission is accomplished. There are plenty of floozies in Forks to go around," Emmett said and I had to roll my eyes at his use of military terms as well.

"Hey!" I snapped offended.

"Please, who in their right mind can talk for an hour about rabbits fucking," Emmett says seriously.

"I'm not a floozy."

"No, she's not; she's just very educated on animal sex," Edward defended.

Demetri starts singing, _'I want to fuck you like an animal, I want to feel you from the inside.'_ Edward was not happy. I just start laughing and pulled him away, heading into the dance. "If I didn't know better, I would swear you were jealous, Edward."

He grimaced. "I'm not jealous of Demetri, I just feel very protective of you. D's an ass."

"And here I thought you were jealous that Demetri would leave you. That was some spectacular orgasm you gave him earlier. Talk about shattering a girl's dream," I tested to lighten his mood.

"Woman, must you always ride my balls?" he groaned.

I blushed and just shrugged because really, I would love to ride them. Maybe I was a floozy.

EPOV

Bella had gotten quiet after I complained about her getting on my case. I realized I complained about her riding my balls and she just blushed in response. I think it was a little fucked up that I liked it. I pushed the thoughts out of my head. I had never had sex, and the half assed blow job I'd had didn't end the way I hoped. I started thinking of Bella doing that to me, but then she smiled and her braces shined in the light, making me realized I didn't want to do that with her mouth full of razors. That was what I got for being disrespectful of a friend. She trusted me to take care of her, not think dirty thoughts about her. Of course, how she expected me to do that with her boobs all spilling out of her dress covered in glittery shit, I would never know. They were just begging for me to stare at them and I had been struggling to keep my eyes up on her face ever since I saw her this evening. That dress should be registered as a lethal weapon because it was going to be the death of me!

"Do we have everything?" Jasper asked. We all checked our pockets and the girls were looking confused. We couldn't help but smirk. They had no idea what was going down, but it would be awesome.

Demetri took off strutting like the criminal he was. He would be part of our first wave, along with Emmett.

Tyler had come up with a very lame prank. He planned on dumping nasty leftover mystery meat gravy from the cafeteria on Bella, and then unfurling a banner saying something about it, blaming me. Lauren was on the decorating committee so we knew we had to get her, too, since she was part of the plan. Jasper and I didn't usually like to get girls, but this one was asking for it, and technically, we were only doing to her what she was going to do to Bella. Golden rule and all, that was how Jasper justified it. As for the guys, we showed no mercy.

BPOV

I was nervous. No one had told me what was going on, but Edward seemed really excited. He was smiling really big and casually looked at Jasper, who was the picture of cool. I wondered quietly if they were on something. I should probably peek in his window a few more times just to be sure, just in case he needed me to stage an intervention of course. That was what friends did, right?

I noticed Tyler and his goons went missing shortly after Emmett arrived and gave them all nods. I was really freaking out.

Mike surprised me by coming up and asking me to dance. I looked at him confused. I was worried this was part of their plan and looked at Edward who just shrugged. I realized after Mike had me on the floor that he didn't hang out with Tyler, but that he was a just chess nerd like me.

"So Bella, I just want to thank you for giving me that extra push to ask Jessica out."

I shrugged. This made more sense. I relaxed a little. "Hey, what are friends for?"

Mike was no gentleman, so when the song was over, he just left me in the middle of the dance floor. I started looking for Edward, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I tried to discreetly walk off the dance floor and pretend like my date wasn't missing and most likely causing all sorts of trouble, but it didn't work. People started bumping into me and I nearly fell and got trampled before Lauren showed up, giving me a sick smile.

"Isabella, don't you clean up nice," she said and I was waiting for the rest of her back-handed comment but it didn't come. "I saw you came with Alice Cullen. Is she around?"

I looked around, and then I noticed Alice marching over to us. "Lauren, wow, look at that dress!" Alice said excited. It didn't escape my notice that she did not say she liked the dress.

"Oh, Alice, you always had amazing taste. I suspect since Swan's dress is so beautiful that it's your doing?" she asked.

"No, actually, that was her own creation," Alice said like a proud parent.

"Wow, really? That's just interesting." Lauren was having a blonde moment and actually looked confused. She looked past us and we turned and saw Ben waving wildly, but then he tried to cover it up like he was doing some kind of airplane dance move when he saw me staring. I felt sassy after hanging out with Demetri and winked at Ben and gave him a few hip thrusts.

His eyes widened and he accidently smacked the principal in the face doing his crazy dance move. Alice was giggling as I looked back at Lauren and her like nothing had happened. "What? What's so funny?" I asked. Lauren looked completely lost now and Alice was laughing even harder. I leaned over and whispered, "I see why D enjoys that move so much." It totally reminded me of an episode of Family Guy I saw once where that Quagmire guy did that move and said 'giggity giggity goo'. I think I had a new nickname for Demetri…

Alice was practically on the floor and people were starting to look. I didn't want them to think she was laughing at me so I pointed and laughed hysterically at Lauren who instantly freaked out. "Oh, my god, is there something on my face? Get it off! Get it off!" she screamed and ran out of the room.

Of course, this caused everyone to start laughing along with us. I almost felt bad. Almost. I looked back over to where Ben was and he looked freaked out. I pointed it out to Alice and suggested we go over there and ask where Emmett was since they were friends and all and Emmett was mysteriously missing.

"Hey, Ben," I said with too much confidence. He was baffled because I never spoke to him, let alone looked him in the eye. I saw him eyeing my cleavage and I so pushed it out a bit, which made his eyes almost bug out of his head. Damn, I was rocking the glittery girls tonight!

"Hey," he said but it sounded funny, like he was trying to be cool but failing.

"Have you seen Emmett, my date?" Alice asked Ben.

"He's in the bathroom," Ben said then he looked pained and I wondered if he had a snuggy.

"Are you alright there, Ben?" I asked.

"Yeah, yes, no, no, yes?" I realize he was looking over our shoulder and I looked to see Eric suddenly strike a pose like a freaking model. He was looking up at the rafters like he wasn't just looking at us. Okay, there was something up.

"I have to go," Ben said quickly and ran over to Eric where they started waving their hands around like mad as they argued. Just then, Tyler came in pulling Lauren with him. He shoved her in our direction and she huffed and actually stuck her tongue out at him. I suddenly realized these idiots were so far below our level, it was pitiful.

Lauren came over, walking like she was on a runway. Maybe she was in the same show Eric was just posing for while he checked out the rafters. The image of him wearing the same slinky gown as the boobless Lauren made me start to giggle. Actually, I thought it would probably look better on him.

She smiled sickly sweet, "Alice, Bella, I was wondering if you would join me in the bathroom?"

Just to piss her off, I had to ask. "Why? Is your dress too tight to get up past your cooch so you can pee and you need help?" I was feeling way too much bravado. Maybe someone slipped me the same thing Edward was on.

Alice just burst out laughing.

Lauren looked like she was getting pissed when Alice pulled it together. "No, silly," she said like she was laughing at me, but we both knew better. Lauren probably did need help getting her dress up past her cooch. "Girls always go to the bathroom in groups," she said and looked to Lauren for confirmation.

Lauren grinned widely. "Exactly," she said with a weird English accent. I think she was trying to be more snobby. I knew now whatever they had planned would take place in the bathroom, but I decided not to make it too easy for her.

"I don't think I want to go in there. This is a floor length dress and you never know what's on the bathroom floor," I said shaking my head.

"What?" Lauren was baffled, not that it took much to baffle her.

"I don't want to go."

"But you have to! Tell her, Alice, tell her she has to!" Lauren was starting to lose it.

"I don't know, she has a point, her dress is really long and remember that one time…" Alice started but Lauren cut her off.

"You're being ridiculous! You have to come to the bathroom with me now!" she snapped.

I looked at Alice and shrugged. "Maybe she really needs to pee and needs help with her dress. You can't blame the girl for being upset."

Alice nodded. "No, we don't want her to get a bladder infection from holding it. Come on, Lauren, we'll help you pee."

Lauren let out a growl, "Whatever, come on."

I may have been a little worried, but that went away as soon as I saw Edward and Jasper fall in step behind us. Lauren didn't bother to look back to see who was following her, just soldiered on like her tail was on fire. She flung open the door to the bathroom like she owned the place. "Now, Bella, the cleanest stall is the middle one," she said with a sneer.

Suddenly, the lights went out. I would have been scared when someone grabbed my arm, but I had a feeling it was part of Edward's plan as I was getting shoved out the door with Alice. We both stood outside the bathroom door for a moment and then we heard Emmett yell, "NOW!"

Then we heard Lauren screaming. She burst out of the bathroom covered from head to toe in dark brown goo that smelled positively revolting, like a broken raw sewage pipe. "Tyler!" she screamed bloody murder.

"Oh, my god, Lauren, what happened?" Alice asked with concern.

"Oh, sick! Did the toilet explode on you? Man, this just isn't your night," I said holding my nose, barely keeping a straight face.

Alice was brave and took her hand. "Let's get you some napkins." She pulled her across the hall into the gym/ballroom. There was a large sign spelled out with 'Ride that gravy train. Courtesy of Edward Cullen.'

The song 'C'mon 'N Ride It, (The Train) by Quad City's DJ's' came on and everyone was laughing and dancing, pointing but definitely steering clear of Lauren. I guess you could say she was having a really shitty evening.

Edward joined me a few short seconds later looking a little to innocent and pulled me onto the dance floor, doing some wild train dance move. Yes, tonight would be perfect.

EPOV

It was time. Lauren was sent to get my girl into the trap. Emmett sent the text letting us know everything was in place. Jasper hit the lights and I yanked the girls out of the bathroom while he grabbed Lauren, shoving her into the middle stall. When Emmett heard the stall door slam open, he yelled "Now!"

Jasper and I jumped back knowing that tampered gravy would be dropping. Yes, tampered. I gave Emmett some stink powder to mix into it, so it smelled like shit. Of course, Tyler thought Emmett was a genius for thinking of it. He didn't suspect anything.

Lauren ran out screaming like a banshee, and as soon as I heard Alice take her into the ballroom, Jasper and I slipped out. The rest was up to Demetri. It was time for Jasper and I to have our Alibi. I grabbed Bella and pulled her onto the dance floor for our first dance of the evening and I had to say, it was fun. I didn't even scowl when I saw Jasper dancing with Alice. Apparently, Rose was too pissed to dance with him.

I led Bella over to where Rose was pouting and told her to go help Emmett clean the blood off of himself.

"Blood?" Bella asked worried.

"Just fake, it's cool; it's part of his alibi," I said and nodded at Rose again. "Go help him out, woman. He had nothing to do with you being here."

Rose let out a growl, but I saw her storm off towards the guy's bathroom where I knew Emmett was. I would have loved to be a fly on the bathroom wall for that encounter.

A few minutes later, Tyler, Eric, and Ben came running in, parting the crowd like Moses at the Red Sea with the odor pouring off them. Ben was screaming, "Oh, my god, you killed him!"

They were all covered in stinky gravy, still holding the buckets they had stolen from the cafeteria. We may have coated the edges with super glue so they couldn't put them down. Of course, I pleaded the fifth. I was dancing when all this went down, so the luster on my halo was brilliant.

"Shut it, man, shut the fuck up!" Tyler whisper-screamed.

Suddenly, the music stopped. Chief Swan was standing in the doorway looking furious. "What is this I hear about a murder?" he asked loudly.

Shit, meet fan.

A/N Thanks for reading please review and make sure to give some love to Dollybigmomma.


	20. Chapter 20

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it. I just write it.

Chapter 20 Reward

BPOV

Dad looked at the brown stinky mess that was Tyler, Eric, and Ben. Eric started screaming like a girl, "I'm too pretty to go to jail!" Ben actually pissed himself with his mouth open frozen in fear, and Tyler kept pushing Eric away from him, telling him to shut up.

"Chief Swan," the principal said a little nervously, "What brings you here?"

"I got a call about a disturbance. Why is that kid freaking out? I heard him saying that someone was killed?"

"I assure you that…" The principal was cut off by Ben.

"I'll talk, just please, please, no more!" Ben begged. They both looked at him confused.

"It was all Tyler's idea, he's pissed because Bella wouldn't kiss him in seventh grade and has been snubbing him ever since!"

Well, that was a new one.

"Shut the fuck up!" Tyler yelled swinging the gravy bucket in his hand at Ben's head.

"Watch it, Son, or you're going down for assault," dad said pointing a finger at Tyler, making him gulp. Dad turned to Ben, "Go ahead, finish what you were saying."

Ben looked over at a glaring Tyler, but sang like an opera star. "Tyler wanted to humiliate Bella by dumping gravy on her and ruining her dress. He missed, and dumped it on Lauren instead, and then he swung around surprised and hit Emmett in the neck with the edge of his pan, gashing it open and knocking him down off the top of the stall. He's dead! Oh, my god, he's dead! There was so much blood, and then the lights kept going out and shit just came down on us! It was like Jesus was raining down nasty gravy to punish us!" He finished off with a wail of pain, falling to his knees still holding onto his gravy bucket.

"That's the gravy you serve in the cafeteria?" dad asked the principal in disgust. "It smells rancid!"

"Hand over the pan," the principal said reaching for Tyler's.

"I can't," he said.

The Principal ignored Tyler and grabbed the other side of his gravy pan.

"What do you mean you can't? This is school property." The principal tipped up the gravy pan, showing the Forks High Property in big bold letters. "Hand it over," he said jerking but that only caused Tyler to fall forward into the principal, covering him in stinky brown goo.

"Ah, that's gonna stain," dad said disgusted. That gravy sure did reek.

EPOV

When Tyler stumbled into the Principal, I just had to smile. That was an unexpected bonus to gluing his hands to the stolen property to ensure he got caught.

"Get off of me!" the principal whined. He finally got a better look at Tyler and noticed something that no one else had yet. "What is that?" he said pointing to the odd shit-log shaped lumps covering him. The principal nearly jumped away after that and looked at the boys. Yup, they were all covered in them and smelled like shit. I was sure everyone thought they were covered in shit. Of course, that wouldn't be sanitary, and let's face it, there was no way we wanted to mess with diarrhea, but we were cool with making it look like it. I had to admit, Emmett and Demetri did awesome with the caulk guns of insulator foam. They all looked like they had shit tails down their butts. Someone was having fun with that. Not to mention the cow pie shaped hats they were all wearing. Yeah, they were all definitely shit heads now.

Everyone started reacting to the shit covered boys. The Chief finally snapped loudly, "Enough! What is this I heard about you killing someone?" he asked Tyler.

Tyler scowled.

Eric broke in screaming, "Were gonna die! We're gonna die! They'll kill me in prison, please!" he begged crawling to the Chief.

"Just hold on now. Is someone hurt?" the Chief asked.

"Tyler killed him, he killed him dead! He was white as a ghost! Oh, god, he's gonna haunt us!"

"Who did he kill?" Chief snapped impatient.

"Emmett!" Eric cried. "Oh, god, Emmett's dead!"

"Did you call me?" Emmett asked stepping to the front of the crowd. I did not miss that his arm was wrapped around Rosalie's waist.

Eric and Ben screamed like little girls. "Oh, my god, he's haunting us! Tyler, do something!" Eric screamed like a little girl, gripping Tyler's arm with his free hand. Eric only had one hand glued to his pan.

"This is all his fucking fault!" Tyler yelled pointing madly at Emmett.

"Don't anger the spirit!" Ben hissed at him wide eyed.

"He isn't dead, you idiots! He's standing right fucking there!" Tyler went to go over to him, but Emmett backed up. "Dude, man, I don't know what the hell you have all over you, but don't be touching me with that shit."

"You know very well what this is!" Tyler said angry and flung his arms up and down, trying to emphasize 'this'. When he did, though, some more gravy splashed off of him onto Lauren. She was furious and slapped him. Of course, the stink paste altered the gravy and so when her hand hit his face, it stuck.

"Son, this isn't looking good for you," the Chief said. "It looks like I have evidence of you breaking and entering and vandalizing. I also think we should get you cleaned up and check you all for drugs judging by the way you're hallucinating about killing that kid over there."

"I did, and this was all him! He stole the key and made this shit stink! Check his locker!" Tyler screamed.

Chief turned to Emmett, "Mind if I check your locker?"

"Sure," Emmett said with a shrug, pulling off his casual innocence perfectly.

The principal opened Emmett's locker to find his school books, a jacket, and a football. "There's nothing here incriminating," the Chief said leafing through the books.

"There has to be!" Tyler screamed.

"I think we should take a look in your locker. Principal Baker, you mind giving me permission for that? I believe we have reason to believe he may have damning evidence in it."

"There's nothing in my locker!" Tyler screamed.

"So you won't mind us looking then?" the Chief asked.

He jutted his chin out defiantly, "Do it!" They opened his locker which was just a few down from Emmett's. The empty stink paste packets fell out and the lunch lady's cafeteria keys were sitting right on top of his books.

"Those aren't mine!" he shouted.

"Right, that's what they all say. Why don't you stop trying to point fingers at your buddy here that obviously had nothing to do with this. He doesn't have a speck on him."

"He does! He had blood all over her neck!"

"Look, Son, I don't know what you're on, but I think it's time I take you and your friends in." He turned to Principal Baker, "I'll get the gravy pans back to you as soon as we figure out a way to detach them."

Principal Baker just nodded.

"To my car now."

Of course, Lauren was pouting mad because she had been stuck to Tyler this whole time and had to go with them. I wondered if the Chief would book her, too.

As Chief Swan headed out for the exit, I stopped him. "Hey, Chief, you may want to wear these," I said and slipped him some nose plugs.

He smiled. "Thank you, Edward, that was very thoughtful of you." He gave me a wink and left.

Bella saw the exchange and looked at me surprised. "Was he part of the plan?" she asked wide eyed.

I just smiled. "I plead the fifth."

Bpov

"Hey, ducky!" Demetri called to me doing a nipple pinch. "We've had a busy night," he said. I realized Jasper was closing the vent behind Demetri, and Demetri was pulling his night vision goggles off. "Can you point me in the direction of some fine ass to grope? I'm ready for my reward."

"Your reward?" I asked.

Jasper was laughing, "We live in an all boys' school, Bella, bribing him with girls for his help was easy."

"Okay, I don't talk to a lot of girls, but I'm sure Alice and I can point you towards a few easy ones."

Demetri strolled over, wrapping his arm around me. He sniffed my hair. "I knew I liked you, girl," he said eyeing my breasts as we walked toward the ballroom again.

"Eyes up, man! That's my date!" Edward yelled at him.

Demetri just smirked at him. "The hypocrite can't keep his eyes off your tits either, baby, they're beautiful. You should tease him good so he bones you hard tonight."

Demetri was obviously not informed that Edward and I were just friends. I needed to set him straight so they didn't tease Edward about being with me. Last thing I wanted was for Edward to get annoyed with being associated with me, so I put it in terms Demetri would understand. "As much as I would like him to, Edward doesn't want to bone me, we're just friends."

Demetri chuckled low in my ear, "Check his pants, baby, he wants to fuck you hard, friend or not." He gave me a double hip thrust for emphasis. "Now come dance with me so I can make these girls all hot and bothered."

He pulled me out on the dance floor and gripped my hips, pulling me back against him. I was not surprised to find Demetri hard as he ground into my backside. They were playing Cyclone by Baby Bash and he ground against me to the slow, grinding beat. His hands slid up my stomach and down my thighs in time to the music. I had to admit, I was getting hot with what he was doing, even though he stayed in pretty safe areas. God, he knew what he was doing. The boy had moves!

When the song was over, he kissed my hand and passed me over to a furious looking Edward who yanked me hard against his body, my eyes popping wide. Demetri winked at me and mouthed 'told you'. He turned to the first girl he could find and she practically melted when he asked her to dance. Demetri was pretty good looking in that bad boy way, so I was not surprised that after they danced they had disappeared.

I guess Demetri was getting his reward.

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	21. Chapter 21

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma works her magic on it and I just write it.

Chapter 21 Unforgiven

It was well past three o'clock in the morning when Demetri came stumbling out of the building with his arm around the girl he had been with. As much as I wished the rest of the night was spent with me in Edward's arms, it wasn't. Once he knew I was safe from the likes of Tyler and then Demetri, he spent the rest of the night annoying the hell out of his sister, who was trying to flirt with Jasper. Jasper, of course, found the whole mess amusing as he sat back and watched Edward freak out about his little sister falling in love with what Edward later called a narcissistic military freak from Jesus Land. Yeah, not quite sure where Jesus Land came in, but I was guessing it meant he was from the south, not Jerusalem.

Anyway, as much as I would like to have done some experimenting, doing it on prom night seemed a bit cliché. Not that it was an option mind you. Okay, who was I kidding, if Edward hadn't been totally preoccupied with keeping his baby sister a virtuous woman, I would so have been up for doing the dirty.

The night ended with us dropping off Tracy first, the girl that was, as Demetri put it, his reward. Edward was sitting between Jasper and Alice. Alice looked pissed and Jasper looked amused. I think he overestimated Edward's love for him because it looked like Edward was going to beat the shit out of Jasper any minute.

Emmett was next to go. He stretched when he got out and looked over at us like he was about to say something serious. "Man, I'm starving. Edward, I could really go for some more of your mother's anus right now."

"It's anas," I corrected and he laughed.

"Right, that's sooo much better," he said snickering. "I had fun. Rosie baby, call me," he said with a wink and he was finally gone.

When we pulled up in front of my house, Alice asked Edward if he was going to walk me to the door.

He looked torn. "It's fine, Edward. I understand your need to protect your sister," I said with a soft smile. I would never make him feel guilty for looking out for her.

Alice huffed and then Jasper spoke up. "You know, man, the Chief was cool with us tonight, no need to make him think otherwise."

Edward actually growled and it was really hot. "Fine, but you're walking her to the door with me!" he said pulling on Jasper's arm.

"Sorry, love, I tried," Jasper said to Alice with a shrug and followed Edward out of the car.

The three of us stood awkwardly at the doorstep. "So, thank you for asking me to the dance. I had a great time," I said nervously. I was supposed to say that stuff, right? They did it on TV, you said thank you and that you had a good time, right?

"Yeah, it was an interesting date. Thanks for letting me get Tyler for you."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Oh, for heaven sakes, if you're not going to kiss the girl, at least hug her and feel up the breasts you've been ogling all night," Jasper snapped.

I looked at him shocked and Edward looked even more pissed at him.

"Good evening, Bella," Edward said sharply and turned to leave.

Jasper must have seen my disappointment because he pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. "Yes, that's the stuff, if he won't feel you up, I'm more than happy to," he said as he rubbed my back.

Was it strange that I found his offense comforting?

I didn't really have time to think this through, though, as Edward spun on his heels. He saw Jasper hugging me and I had just enough time to push Jasper out of the way as Edward swung at him. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to move myself out of the way and he punched me right in the eye with what felt like all his might, sending me flying backwards into Jasper's arms, making me see stars.

"Holy shit!" Jasper cried, "What the fuck are you doing, man?"

"Oh no! Oh, my god, Bella! Shit, Bella, are you okay? Fuck, baby, I'm so sorry, I wasn't aiming for you."

Damn, the boy could hit, he really rang my bell.

"Let's get her inside," Jasper finally said, and I felt him lift me up and carry me inside. I kept my eyes closed because it hurt to try and open them right now. I felt something cold on my face and that helped. I was carefully laid on the couch.

I heard the footsteps of my father and I knew this was not going to go down well.

"Bella?" my dad's worried voice called to me. "What happened?"

"I hit her, but I swear it was an accident," Edward started but my dad lost it.

"What the hell? You hit my baby girl?" My dad was furious. I was thinking Edward should run and I hoped my dad didn't have his gun on him.

"Stop shouting!" I hissed at them. "Damn it my head hurts."

"Let me see it, honey." I felt my dad pulling away the cold compress.

"It wasn't his fault," I whispered.

"You never deserve to be hit, honey, no matter what you say or do."

"I know that, Daddy. He wasn't trying to hit me. He was trying to hit Jasper for feeling me up, but I got in the way when I pushed Jasper out of the way."

"What?" my dad croaked.

"Jasper was just hugging me and razzing Edward about feeling me up. He wasn't doing anything wrong; he didn't deserve to be hit so I pushed him out of the way," I explained.

I cracked my eyes open and saw Edward sitting across the room with his head in his hands. "I'm so so sorry. I swear, I wasn't trying to hit you, I was just trying to hit that stupid bastard for touching you."

My dad took a deep breath and looked over at him. "I'll take care of her from here, Edward. You go on home. I'm sure your family is worried about you."

"Yes, Sir." He sounded so defeated.

He left and I sat in silence with my dad for a moment. "You weren't covering for him were you Bells? I mean I know what kind of record he has. I should have arrested him when he assaulted…"

I didn't let him finish. "Jasper has been pissing him off all night flirting with his little sister. He spent most the night sitting between them, and when it came time to walk me to the door, Edward didn't want to leave Alice with Jasper alone in the back seat. He made Jasper come to say goodbye to me.

"Edward was a perfect gentleman, Dad. I told him thank you for the night and Jasper was teasing him about not kissing me goodnight and said he should at least feel me up. Edward was pissed at him for being crude and was heading back to the car when Jasper pulled me into a hug to taunt him. He wasn't feeling me up, but he told Edward he was, and then Edward just snapped and went to hit him. I pushed Jasper out of the way because he didn't deserve to be hit. He wasn't feeling me up, Dad, just hugging me," I finished closing my eyes when my dad let out a sigh and leaned back.

I was pretty sure I had saved Edward's butt from being thrown in jail, but I knew my dad would be watching him like a hawk.

I spent Sunday in bed switching out my ice packs. Edward really knew how to hit. I made a note to myself never to piss him off.

By Monday, I was not as swollen, but I was definitely black, blue, and a few shades of purple. I let out a huff as I gently pulled my hair back into my usual ponytail, but it hurt so I brush out my frizz and looked like the damn bride of Frankenstein.

I was surprised when I heard a knock at the door so early. My dad answered it and I heard Alice talking rapidly. "Oh, my god, Chief, I am so sorry, Jasper told me what happened. He's so sorry, too. He didn't know my brother really had a thing for Bella and would defend her like that. He wasn't really groping her, just hugging her, I swear."

Of course, I was stuck on 'had a thing.' Edward had a thing for me? And what kind of thing was that?

Alice surprised me by popping into my room suddenly. "Hey, Bella, Oh man, that does look bad. Edward must have been really pissed."

"Yeah, thanks," I said wishing I could roll my eyes but it hurt too much.

"Just sit down and I'll get to work fixing this."

"You have magical healing powers?" I asked obnoxiously.

"No, but I have make up that'll cover it up," she said ignoring my attitude, sitting a large bag of cosmetics and stuff on my bed.

She applied the makeup to my face as gently as possible, but it still hurt like a bitch. I finally let out a relieved sigh when she took a step back and smiled. "There, that looks better, now what are you doing with your hair?"

"I already did it. It hurts to pull it back."

"Hmm," she said and I closed my eyes, resting my face. Next thing I knew, I felt her behind me running her finger through my hair. I didn't know what she put in it, but it smelled good.

"Okay, all done. Let's go," she said and headed for the door.  
>I clomped downstairs to find my dad holding out some toast for me. "Is everything alright, Bella?" I still didn't think he believed it was an accident.<p>

"I'm fine, Dad." I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tonight."

When I walked out of the house, my dad followed. I saw Edward with his head down on the steering wheel. When he heard us coming, he quickly got out, opening the doors for Alice and I. He didn't say a word, just looked at the ground sadly.

I looked up to see my dad with a tight smile as he waved goodbye to me. I hoped he saw that Edward really didn't mean it. It was obvious he was sorry.

There was nothing really to forgive, but it didn't look like Edward was going to forgive himself anytime soon.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	22. Chapter 22

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 22 Out sight not insight

BPOV

Edward was taking this remorse thing a little far. He looked absolutely pained every time he looked at me and I noticed his focus was always on my bad eye. He took off to his class and I made my way to mine. I wasn't surprised to find that Tyler, Eric, Ben, and Lauren were all suspended for the rest of the year. Of course, that was only two weeks, but hey, I was not complaining. I got to finish off the school year jerk free.

By lunch time, I was getting tired of him moping. I think Alice was, too, as she sat with him and they seemed to be in a heated discussion. I had my tray and sat in my quiet corner alone. Of course, that didn't last long. Emmett came striding in looking around for a place to sit. He looked at the bickering siblings and then glanced my way and shot me a wide grin. He strode over like it was something he did every day. He sat down, "Hey, Ducky, mind if I join you?"

"As long as you drop the duck references, sure, knock yourself out."

He started snickering. "Right, I heard about that, but sorry, babe, I'm not into hitting girls. The midget seemed to do a good job on covering it up, though."

"Gee thanks," I grumbled.

"Oh, come on, girl, you can't be pissed about it."

"Can we just not talk about it? I'm not mad about it; I'd just rather not be reminded as to why Edward is moping around like someone kicked his puppy."

"Ah, babe, you're his puppy, how sweet."

"Okay, if you don't change the subject, I'll get up and leave you here alone looking like an idiot that got snubbed by a geek."

He pouted and let out a huff. "So, from what I gather, Tyler is going to be sent to military school. He had some weed on him and with his 'hallucinations' so bad, his parents were sure he had a drug problem."

"We should probably give Jasper and Demetri the heads up on that."

"Nah, they had no clue Jasper and D were involved. They think it was all Edward and me. They just can't figure out how we could be everywhere since we both had alibis and all. Those guys are smooth. I was worried that we would get caught and I would get hung out to dry because I wasn't in the love buddy group, but they were really cool and kept me safe."

"Yeah, Edward is all about protection."

Emmett burst out laughing. "What, the boy double up on you or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "NO, you idiot, we're just friends."

"Right, you're his friend and he's just in the relationship with your boobs."

"Okay, what's with you guys and my boobs?"

"Guys like boobs and you have a nice pair. Really nice. They were all shiny and everything on display at the dance. You really polished them up for Eddie didn't you?" he said with a wink.

"No, I didn't, Alice went a little crazy with the glitter powder. I had nothing to do with them."

"Right, so who picked your bangin' dress that pushed those babies right into his face?"

"My dad," I said flatly and Emmett spit his soda and burst out laughing again.

"Way to pimp the daughter, Chief," he said as if toasting his soda can.

I just shook my head at him.

"I swear, Edward, so help me, if you do, I'll come after your stupid ass and drag you home!" Alice shouted from across the cafeteria. I glanced up to see her storm out. I guess their intense discussion had escalated.

"So, you going to go after her?" Emmett asked.

I looked at him confused, "Why?"

He let out a huff, "Dude, you're her friend and that's what girls do, go after each other when crying. They go to the bathroom together in groups. Paint toenails and compliment shoes and do their hair while complaining about menstrual cycles and boys."

My mouth dropped open.

"What? I have sisters," he said with a shrug. "So, you going after her? Cause if you are, I'm going to go sit with Mr. Moody pants," he said nodding toward Edward.

"Yeah, sure, um, I guess," I said standing. "Um, Emmett, can you please never say the word menstrual cycle to me again?"

He rolled his eyes this time. "It's just part of life, Bella. I don't see why you're so touchy. It isn't like everyone doesn't have to deal with it," he said with a huff and left the table.

Emmett was definitely an odd character.

EPOV

I had hit a girl, but not just any girl. I'd hit Bella. I had been doing my best to protector her and I should have been protecting her from me. I rang her bell so hard that I was sure she saw stars and birds flying around her head. I could have blamed it on Jasper for provoking me, but the truth was I needed to get a handle on my anger issues. It was easier to just snap and beat the crap out of someone until I felt better, but that wasn't the right way to deal with things. I never really saw it as a bad thing because most fuckers deserved a good beating, but now as I looked at Bella's bruised face, I saw the error in my ways. I needed to get control over myself. I needed discipline.

Alice came to my room early on Monday. "We're picking up Bella so I can do her make up."

"But she doesn't wear makeup, Alice."

"I'm going to cover up her bruises, dip wad," she said with an eye roll.

Truth was I kind of didn't want to see Bella Swan right now because the evidence that I had hit her would be blaring on her face.

I stayed in the car, not ready to face the chief again. I also wasn't looking forward to seeing the damage I had caused.

I kept my head down and almost missed the chance to grab the door for Alice and Bella when they came out because I was so busy hiding. I really didn't need to add anymore proof to the Edward was an asshole shit pile.

I fudged my way through classes and Alice was looking like a mad woman when she came storming in at lunch. "What the hell is with your broodiness? It was an accident, Edward. Bella knows this; you need to get over yourself."

"Accident or not, Alice, I still shouldn't have snapped. If I would have had my damn temper under control, I would have never gone to hit Jasper."

"Jasper was being an ass. He deserved to be hit."

I just shook my head. "I'm out of control, Alice. I think maybe Carlisle was right in sending me away."

"You know that's bullshit. He was way too quick in sending you away for having done so little to deserve it. He was downright smug and giddy about getting to do that to you, but we both know who he was really thumbing his nose at. He and Dad never got along, you're Dad's spitting imagine, and you even have his name, Edward. Don't you think that he might be taking out his issues with Dad on you?"

It was true. Carlisle and dad had always fought like mad. Carlisle was the rich accomplished brother, but Nana and Gramps would spend every holiday with us because they wanted to be with the grandkids. They would fawn over us and tell my dad they were so proud of him, even if my family wasn't rich. I guess they never did that for Carlisle. He ended up being pretty bitter about it. I had no idea why the hell my mom and dad gave guardianship of us to my asshole uncle, that was until I got to know Esme better. It wasn't that she didn't want to have kids, she did, she just couldn't. She seemed so happy that we were coming to stay with them. I remembered her and my mother laughing over cups of tea as Alice and I did our best to vie for her attention when we were little. She was always nice to us, even if Uncle Carlisle was a jealous douche.

"Issues or not, Alice, I still need straightening out. I think I'm going to talk to him after school about going back to military school with Jasper."

Alice lost it and started screaming at me before she stormed out. I knew she would be upset, but I knew it was for the best.

I heard the chair across from me getting pulled out. I looked up to see Emmet sitting there with a smile. I looked over at the door that Alice had just run through and saw Bella going out of it.

"She's going after her. That's what girls do," he said as if he was all knowing.

Yeah, whatever.

"So," he said leaning forward, "How are you, Edward?" he asked seriously and crossed his hands like my damn psychologist.

"What do you want, Emmett?"

He smiled widely. "I'm glad you asked. I would like a scholarship to UW to play football, bodyguards to keep the slime away from my little sisters while I'm gone, a never-ending supply of beef jerky, and a date with Rosalie. What do you want?"

I just looked down at my tray and shook my head.

"Hmm, let me guess. Ms. Isabella Swan."

I looked up at him confused. "Why would you say that? We're just friends. Or we were until I punched her."

"Ah, and you still are, she knows it was an accident. She's cool like that you know, and she has a bangin' body. So, you want her, right?" he asked.

I shook my head no. "We're just friends."

He chuckled. "That's what she said." Then he started laughing harder. "Dude, I used the phrase 'that's what she said' and it wasn't dirty! Who would have thought you could use those words in actual conversation?"

"Emmett, what do you want?"

"I already told you what I want, but if you're asking why I'm here, I would say to cheer up my friend. Dude's an emo freak," he said and punched my shoulder. "Stop over thinking shit, Edwardo, you'll just bring yourself down. You're a good guy; there's no reason to be upset."

I wished he was right, but I knew he was wrong. I would talk to Esme first this evening so she could approach Carlisle for me about going back to military school. I didn't know how she would take it, but I hoped she wouldn't freak out like Alice.

Biology was torture. I sat next to Bella, and even though her face was covered in makeup, I could still she the subtle change from where I had hit her. I tried to focus on my paper and was surprised when I was suddenly shoved off my stool. I looked up at her surprised and she smirked at me. "What's your deal, Cullen; you don't know how to sit?"

"Sit? You…" I pointed and she smiled widely.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said innocently. "Hey, while you're down there, do you mind picking up my pencil?"

"You shoved me off my seat so I would pick up your pencil?" I asked shocked.

She giggled. "You know, Cullen, you don't hear well, I told you I didn't know why you fell off your seat. Now, are you going to give me the pencil on the floor next to you or are you going to make me climb under the table as well?"

Was she flirting with me? Did I want her to flirt with me? Why did her crawling under the table with me sound really good right now.

She snapped her fingers, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Pencil?" she said again.

"Yeah, sure." I grabbed it and set it in her hand.

She smiled at me, "Thanks, should I ask Dr. Banner about getting seat belts for the seats?"

I shook my head at her and couldn't help but smile. Why was her picking on me making me smile? Was I a masochist? I didn't know, but for some reason, the fact that Bella Swan took the time to shove me off my stool made me smile.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	23. Chapter 23

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma saves the world and the chapter and I just write it.

Chapter 23 Super Shake to the rescue!

BPOV

The rest of the week went much the same. If I was not shoving Edward off something, I was throwing something at him and playing innocent. It was the only way I could get him to smile. Of course, it also started an accidental food fight, but we won't go into that.

I was relieved when I realized on Saturday morning that my black eye was pretty much just a light yellow bruise and I wouldn't have to worry about Sue wondering what the heck happened to my face when I came in for work.

My mother would be coming home soon and I was happy to have her around the house again. I had spent Friday night cleaning until I thought my fingers would fall off, but it was worth it when Saturday morning my dad walked through the house smiling. "I think we'll get her home this weekend." I leaned up and kissed my dad on the cheek.

"That's great, Dad. I've missed having you guys around."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry that things get crazy sometimes."

"It's not your fault. It isn't like mom was asking to get sick."

"I know, honey, thanks for being so understanding." He gave me one last squeeze and he was off to the hospital to check on mom.

I did some last minute touching up on the house and then showered before work. My face didn't hurt as bad anymore so I was able to pull my hair up in a ponytail. I slipped on my short shorts and tank top and hurried off to work. I waved to Sue and she slipped in the back to help me get dressed.

"I hear your mom might be coming home."

"I hope so."

"You tell her I said hello and to give me a call when she gets settled."

"Thanks, Sue. I will," I said and positioned the last part of the shake costume. Sue handed me the flyers and pointed me in the right direction.

I started down the sidewalk like I did before, doing my best to drum up business for the diner. I passed out twelve flyers and was turning down a side street when I heard Edward's name. It was a small town and I was pretty sure there were no other Edwards in Forks so I turned my body to see who was talking.

"You're overreacting, Edward," the pretty woman said it took a moment but I realized it was Esme. I'd recognize that look of disappointment and disgust anywhere. "I'm fine with having you take classes for your problem, but I don't want to send you away. Alice agrees with me. We think it would be best if you stayed close to your family right now."

"I'm not safe to be around. I'm a loose cannon, Esme. I hit a girl, I swore to my father to never hit a girl, but I did it and I need to make amends."

"Then buy her flowers and take her out to make up for it. There's no reason for you to abandon your family over it. From what Alice tells me, this girl forgave you already."

"Bella, Esme, her name is Bella, and she doesn't know any better. She puts up with crap so her parents don't worry."

"Bella? Isn't that the girl you went to the dance with? The one that…"

"Bella Swan, you know her family."Edward cut her off.

"Oh, the Swans," Esme said with a little less enthusiasm. "She cleaned up nice."

"Yeah, and she has a brain. Go figure. She isn't an easy whore, either."

"Edward, language."

"What, you want me to hang out with the troublemakers like Lauren and Tyler? You heard they got suspended for damaging school property didn't you?"

I watched as Esme pinched her nose. "We're getting off subject here, Edward. I'm not letting Carlisle send you back to military school for hitting a girl. It was an accident. Now, if you want more counseling for anger management, then so be it, but I will not let you take the easy route out and abandon Alice again."

"Abandon?"

"You know that's how she'll feel. Now can't you just make amends with this Swan girl and be done with it."

"Like I said, she's already forgiven me, but it doesn't stop me from feeling guilty."

Oh, I was so getting so sick of his pity party and I'd had enough. I marched up to the pair of them and handed my stack of flyers to a very startled Esme. Then I punched Edward as hard as I could, making him fall back and me to tumble over on top of him. Yeah, it was kind of hard to keep your balance in this thing. I obviously didn't think this through.

"What the hell, man?" Edward cried rolling me off of him, literally.

"Now we're even, so just get over it! It was an accident!"

"Bella? Is that you in there?" he asked shocked and I realized he had no idea who had just punched him.

I let out a huff, thinking about lying for half a second but just admitted it. "Yeah, it's me, can you help me up?"

It took him and Esme to get me back up on my feet and Edward dusted me off. "It was an accident, Edward, and like Alice said, you were defending my honor, which is totally chivalrous, so just let it go. I'm clumsy, I get in the way, and I fall down a lot."

"Like just now?" he teased and I shoved him, almost falling over again.

"Whoa there, tiger," he said chuckling as he stabilized me again.

"Look, if you think you have anger issues, then talk to someone, but there's no reason to be taking off. Your family would miss you and so would I. I mean, I only have you as a biology partner for another week, but hey, I'll take what I can get."

He rubbed his face like he was thinking about.

"Listen to the shake, Edward, it knows what it's talking about," Esme said.

"That's right. Remember, Edward, I'm never wrong."

"That's just in biology."

"And the human body is part of biology, which you just happen to be human, so I'm right, so there."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that logic," he teased.

"No, you can't. Now, I have to get back to work," I said taking my flyers from Esme. "Thank you," I said to her.

She called after me, "Thank you, giant shake!" waving her hand wildly.

I couldn't help but snicker. I doubted she would ever like me or get my name right, but at least Edward would be staying in town.

EPOV

Bella was a giant shake. Really, she was. I was watching her shapely legs march down the sidewalk as she waved her flyers at people. She was a giant shake. I think that turned me on a little. She was in tights and fishnet stockings, rocking a pair of strapped on heels. I wondered if she had anything else under there because it sure didn't look like it. I smiled and my face hurt. I chuckled to myself, remembering how freaked out I was about getting attacked by a giant shake. I almost thought it was a nightmare come to life. Don't laugh. I know you've had bad dreams where your food came after you trying to eat you.

I had to admit that I was relieved when Bella's familiar voice came from the costume that had tackled me. I didn't think she had meant to and I had to smile as she teetered when she gave me another shove. I realized this girl was a bit violent. She had been shoving me and throwing stuff at me all week. The thing was I liked it. She would laugh at me and tease me and play all innocent when it was obviously her. I mean I could be looking right at her while she let the wad of paper fly right at me and she would accuse me of littering since it bounced off me. Apparently, littering was just like basketball; last one to touch it was out, or in the case of litter, in charge of picking it up and throwing it in the trash. Lucky for me, I rocked basketball and could easily swish trash into the can.

The best part of last week was when she flung a meatball at me and missed. It hit some kid who turned and thought the guy standing behind Bella had thrown it because she looked the picture of innocence and the dude just let his tray rip, starting a huge food fight. She hid out under the table with me which was pretty cool. "Now look what you did," I said as spaghetti sauce dripped down the side of the table.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a smile.

"You never do," was my laughing reply.

Esme had agreed to sign me up for anger management classes that met on Saturdays. It was my first class and she was coming to make sure the teacher knew I wasn't a juvenile delinquent. Needless to say, she looked like one of those parents who always thought their kid was an angel and they really were the devil. I was pretty sure Bella's parents would look the same way. We both knew better of each other, though. She was definitely a troublemaker.

The anger management class talked about finding outlets for your anger. Music was my outlet most the time so I decided once I got home to do a little playing. I picked up my guitar and just started strumming. My mind drifted to Bella in her giant shake costume and Esme waving at her like she had just performed some wonderful feat like a superhero. I started composing a song about a super shake and its ability to cool off hot heads like me. Bella was my superhero, whether she knew it or not.

Of course, just like Bat Girl, Super Girl, and Wonder Woman, Bella was built, with nice legs and perfect breasts. By the end of the song, I was in dire need of some whacking. I slipped off into the kitchen for a bottle of water and hurried back to my room. I made quick work of my woody and dropped the evidence out of the window and left it open a crack to air out. There was no way I wanted Esme to come into my room thinking it stank like cum. Once relieved, I felt a little guilty and played the song again to make up for disrespecting Bella in my head.

I had just finished the song when I thought I heard a sneeze. I moved to my window and looked out into the darkness. I swear this had happened before. I was sure someone was watching me, but I couldn't see them. My eyes felt drawn to a dark patch of shadows and I knew if I just stared long enough I would see them move, but they never did. I finally gave up and went to bed. Maybe I could call Super Shake to save me from the sneezing shadow monster. I chuckled at my own thoughts. I still couldn't believe Bella was a freaking giant shake. HA!

_AN Thanks for reading please review and enjoy the shake song._

_**Edward's Super Shake song**_

_She is soft served in a biodegradable cup _

_She has sweet legs that can mess you up. _

_She'll cool you down with her frosty goodness, _

_Her arch nemesis is Mr. Moodiness._

She is ice cold but still so warm.

She always says that I do no harm.

Her strawberry top is twisting me up.

I'll admit I love that strawberry cup.

_She is soft served in a biodegradable cup _

_She has sweet legs that can mess you up. _

_She'll cool you down with her frosty goodness, _

_Her arch nemesis is Mr. Moodiness._

She comes running whenever you're down.

It doesn't matter where you are in town.

She'll take you out if you're talking bad.

You really don't want to make her mad.

_She is soft served in a biodegradable cup _

_She has sweet legs that can mess you up. _

_She'll cool you down with her frosty goodness, _

_Her arch nemesis is Mr. Moodiness._


	24. Chapter 24

This is not just a friendship story! There will be good lovin' eventually, but I actually have a plot and develop my characters, go figure. So just chill, be patient, and enjoy. SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it. I just write it.

Chapter 24 Lost windows

BPOV

It turned out my mother didn't get to come home this weekend after all. I spent Saturday night pouting until I couldn't stand it anymore and walked over to the Cullen's. I didn't really think I was welcome, but I stood outside Edward's window and watched him play his guitar with a smile and that made me feel a little better. The show he gave me with his water bottle, and then the song he sang after he was done, really made my night. He heard me sneeze and came looking to see me, but again I hid in the shadows. I swear it was like he could see me, but he didn't say a word as his eyes focused on me. He once again gave up and went back to bed. I hurried home after that, not wanting to push my luck because we both knew I didn't have any luck to speak of.

I was surprised when Edward and Alice showed up to pick me up for school on Monday. They had no reason to since my ankle wasn't sprained and my face didn't need making up. Man, just thinking that made me feel like a klutz!

Epov

We were picking up Bella, and I realized I didn't have to, but it just felt like a habit now. I didn't know what I was going to do once school was out. I hadn't made a lot of friends and I really didn't want to get stuck in my house all day with Esme and Alice. I loved them, but let's face it; sometimes it was easier to love people from a distance. Unfortunately for me, Bella was not one of those people.

"How's it shakin'," I asked her as she stepped out onto the porch.

She just shook her head at me. "Really, that's the best you got? How long did it take you to come up with that?"

I just shrugged. "Why don't you just cool down? What's with this frosty exterior?"

"Well, I guess it's better than duck jokes."

"Oh, leave her alone," Alice chided me.

The ride to school seemed to go too fast and I found myself wishing I could spend more time with Bella. At lunch, I sought her out and sat at her table like I had been doing for the past week. Alice and Emmett joined us as usual. Emmett seemed particularly excited. "So, what are the plans for this summer?" he asked and I was curious myself.

"I've got to find a new hair style," Alice lamented. "I saw two freshmen with the same hair as me just this past week," she shook her head.

Bella raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

"What are you doing, Ducky?"

"Her new nickname is Berry," I informed Emmett.

"Berry? What does that have to do with ducks?"

"Nothing, but it has everything to do with strawberry," I said smiling wider.

Bella actually giggled and shook her head at me.

"Well, which do you prefer?" I asked.

"Bella," she stated flatly.

"Clean the ice cream out of your ears, Swan, your name is either Ducky or Strawberry."

She rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll go with strawberry. Last thing I want to be associated with is Emmett's anus or Pretty in Pink."

"You do look cute with pink hair," I teased.

Of course, this just confused Emmett even more. "Her hair isn't pink. When was it pink? Are you going punk on us, Berry?"

"Yes, I have several piercings, now you try and guess where they are," she said like she was totally serious and I suddenly wondered if she had real ones.

"Oh, my gosh, you guys are so easy. Bella, look what you did to them! Tell them you don't have piercings!" Alice squealed.

"How would you know?" Emmett asked. "Is Bella your secret luva?"

Alice threw a French fry at him. "No, I helped her get ready, remember? Which means I've seen Miss Swan in all her naked glory." This caused Bella to blush.

"So, is it as glorious as the dress made it out to be?" Emmett asked and it was Bella's turn to flick a fry at him.

"Yes, of course, Bella has a beautiful body and gorgeous legs," Alice started but I cut her off.

"Yeah, they really rock the fish net stockings and pink hair."

"Where the hell did you see that?" Emmett asked. "You guys aren't leaving me out are you?"

"No, Emmett, we're not. Edward just ran into me at work."

"Correction, Berry, you ran into me," I teased recalling how she punched me and then fell on me.

"Okay, this _was_ a nice quiet table; who said you could sit with me anyway?" she asked raising an eyebrow at Emmett and I.

"Would you like us to leave?" I asked. I was pretty sure she would say no.

She tapped her chin a few times. "Well, I suppose you both can stay as long as Alice vouches for you."

"Not happening. My brother's an idiot and so is Emmett. Goodbye," Alice said with a flick of her wrist.

Emmett and I gasped and Bella just started out laughing.

"You guys are cruel you know that? That was just mean," Emmett said like he was really hurt.

"Oh, you're fine," Bella said. "Here, you can have my pudding cup," she said passing it to him.

He eagerly took it and I was a little jealous. "Hey, I'm hurt, too. What do I get?"

She looked at me and smirked. "For you Edward, you get a bottle of water," she said a little too mischievously. For a moment, I thought she was going to dump it on my head, but she just handed it to me as she got up to empty her tray. "Have fun with that," she said with a wink, leaving me totally baffled. Then to my horror, it dawned on me that Jasper or D may have told her of the water bottle usage in military school.

"Dude, what's your deal, it's just water, you're acting like she told you that you forgot your pants," Emmett said around a mouthful of ill-gotten pudding. Emmett didn't know how close to the truth he was.

BPOV

Okay, that was a little mean, but I couldn't resist. I was going to save my bottle of water for later, but when he asked for something, I couldn't stop myself. I gave him the bottle of water. When I stood, he cringed like I was going to dump it on him. As appealing as I thought Edward in a wet t-shirt might be, I had something else in mind. I gave it to him and told him to have fun with it. It took a moment, but I saw when everything snapped into place. I was sure I would hear about it in biology.

Edward was almost late to class. He rushed in and slid into his seat. "Running a little late," I commented.

He just grunted and I saw his cheeks had a red hue to them. "You look a little flushed, Edward. Is everything alright?"

I saw him bury his face in his hands and take a deep breath. I was starting to worry.

I leaned over and nudged him. "Dude, seriously, what's up?" I asked.

"I got caught with the water bottle," he said and I couldn't help but laugh.

His eyes widened and he pointed at me. "YOU KNOW!"

"Quiet down in the back," Dr. Banner warned.

"You know!" he hissed accusingly, "Who told you?"

"I'll never reveal my source." Truth was, he was my source.

"I'm so going to kill those guys," he growled.

"Ah, come on, Edward, I was just teasing you. It isn't like you're the only boy in the world doing it. Heck, even girls do it." I would, too, if I could just get someone to help me figure it out.

I looked up at the board and started taking notes. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of me. I was doing my best to ignore him.

"Do you?" he asked leaning very close to me. I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

I swallowed hard. "Not yet."

"Yet?"

"I haven't figured out how," I mumbled.

I heard snickering next to me. "And you're doing so well in biology," he whispered.

"Maybe I need tutoring on that chapter." My whole face heated as my blush filled my face.

"Hmm, well, that's something to think about now, isn't it?" he said and his voice seemed deeper.

Damn, he was hot. The bell rang too soon and I waited until he left the room before I moved. I didn't know how, but it seemed Edward Cullen could affect my whole body without even touching me.

After school, I was so embarrassed by what I had said that I kept my eyes on the ground. He grabbed my door just like he did for Alice everyday and I sat down next to him as we drove to my house.

"Okay, you two, what the heck is going on? The tension is insane!" Alice complained.

I blushed so deep and shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you, Edward?"

He smirked at me. "No, Berry, I have no clue," he said a little too smoothly.

He got my door and walked me up to the house. Alice was waiting in the car, so we had a moment alone.

"Thanks for the ride," I mumbled.

"Sure, no problem, you're on the way anyways."

"Thanks."

He leaned in close to me to whispered, "Call me if you need tutoring."

My eyes widened and I looked up at him. I gulped hard and squeaked, "Okay."

He smiled, winked and then strutted back to his car. How did my water bottle joke get so out of hand?

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	25. Chapter 25

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 25 Into the madness

Epov

What the hell was I thinking? _'Call me if you need a tutor'. _What if she called? I would be just as lost as she was. Probably more because I didn't get anywhere with Tanya so I never saw her thing or whatever down there. Maybe if I did some research on the subject. Oh, god, was I really going to find a way to sneak porn into my aunt's house? Maybe Carlisle had some that I could steal, or borrow as Jazz said. I would give it back. I couldn't imagine keeping it and trying to get off to Carlisle's porn; that was just wrong on so many levels.

Maybe if I just never brought it up again she wouldn't ask me for help. I couldn't believe I was hoping a girl wouldn't call me to ask me to help her get off. I was freaking nuts, but there was just too much pressure! Call me if you need a tutor…What the hell was I thinking?

I decided in the end I needed to know how to get a girl off even if she didn't call; just because she didn't call me now didn't mean she would never call me. I tried to think of where Carlisle would hide his porn. Obviously, somewhere Esme didn't go that often.

I looked across the hall and realized that would most likely be his office. I looked left and right, and then snuck across the hall and quietly shut the door behind me. I looked around and didn't see any obvious hiding spots. I ended up breaking down and just checking his desk drawers. I didn't find anything and decided to go for the filing cabinets. I was half way through the second cabinet when I hit the jack pot. "Ah, HA!"

There was a file labeled 'Porno, Mia', and I was sure that was Italian for my porn or something. I grabbed the file just as Carlisle came in.

"What is god's name are you doing in my office? IN MY FILES?" He became progressively more pissed. He snatched the porn file from my hand. "Why do you have Mrs. Porno's file? You don't even know her. This is breach of confidentiality! Did you look at it?" he shouted louder.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Esme came running in. "Edward, what are you doing in here?"

"That's exactly what I would like to know!" Carlisle yelled.

"I was looking for something," I mumbled.

"Looking? There's nothing in here for you…" He stopped and looked at me wide eyed. "You were looking for drugs!" he accused. "Goddamn it, Esme, I knew taking in those brats was a mistake!"

"Carlisle!" Esme snapped.

"I wasn't looking for drugs!" I shouted.

"Then what, my prescriptions pad so you can write them for your buddy's at school?" he sneered. "You could cost me my license, my livelihood, and the one thing standing in between you and the damn street!"

"Carlisle, please settle down," Esme pleaded.

"I will not settle down, and why the hell do you have Mrs. Mia Porno's file!" he shouted at me. "Are you looking for someone to blackmail? God, do your unscrupulous ways know no bounds?"

I knew at this point there was no talking to him, and there was no way I wanted to tell Esme what I was doing. I went to leave the room but Carlisle grabbed my arm and I lost it. No one touched me.  
>"Get your fucking hands off me you bitter, jealous loser. I wasn't looking for drugs or your prescription pad, or someone to blackmail. I was looking for your porn stash! I had some questions about sex that I knew you would never answer so I was looking for another source. Now stay the hell away from me!"<p>

I stormed out of the room, leaving him quiet and stunned. I slammed my door so hard that it bounced back open, damn door. I heard Esme speaking to Carlisle. "You were completely out of line. You shouldn't have flown off the handle like that, Carlisle. He's not your brother! He's just a boy, in desperate need of guidance, and because you're a pompous ass, he couldn't come to you for help! You failed him! Maybe that's why god wouldn't bless us with children, because he knew you were a bastard." I heard her take a deep breath. I was surprised that Carlisle didn't say anything back to her. Of course he would raise his voice to me, but I had never heard him raise his voice to Esme, or Alice even. "Edward is doing everything he can to make himself a better man. He's in counseling, grieving group therapy, and anger management. He's obviously trying desperately to be a good boy. Why can't you see that? Why can't you see past the fact that he's related to your brother and just love him?" I heard her sniffle.

"Mae, oh, Mae, I'm so sorry. You're right. I'm just so..."

"I know; you need to talk to someone, Carlisle. The way you treat him is not fair. He's not your brother, Edward. He's Edward Jr. and now your son. It's time you start acting like the father he needs. These are the only children we'll ever get, Carlisle, please don't make them hate us. I want them to come home for holidays and I want to attend their weddings and baby showers. I want to be a grandmother to their children, and if you don't get help, that won't happen. Please see the gift they gave us in naming us the guardians of their children. Elizabeth and Edward loved us, why can't you see that?"

"I'm sorry," I heard Carlisle say and he sounded choked up.

I knew Esme loved us, but to hear how she wanted to be in our lives forever felt good. I'd felt so alone since I had lost my mother and father, and to hear Esme begging Carlisle to get help so she could be part of my life for as long as possible felt really good, like I wasn't so alone in the world anymore.

A light knocking on my doorframe brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Esme and Carlisle standing there, both looking a bit watery eyed. I gave Esme a soft smile and she ran over to me and hugged me tightly. I squeezed her back just as hard, wishing she was my mom and knowing that she would do anything and everything she could to help ease the pain of losing my mother.

"We're so sorry, baby," she whispered and kissed my cheek. I didn't realize I was crying until she wiped the tears from my cheek. "You know we love you, don't you, sweetheart? I love you so much."

"I know," I whispered softly, because I knew that _she_ loved me.

She glanced over at Carlisle who stepped in with his hands shoved down in his pockets. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Edward."

I just nodded at him, not really wanting to talk to the asshole yet.

He suddenly started laughing. "Mia, Porno?" he chuckled louder. "I never realized that her name sounded like that. She says it with such a thick accent." He shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to ever be able to look her in the face again." He ran both his hands through his hair. He sat down on the couch and looked over at me. "I'm sorry I lost my temper and I hope that you'll trust me to answer your questions. I can tell you right now, I don't have a porn stash and I doubt they would answer any questions for you anyway. From what I understand, they're mostly pictures and fake gibberish about cosmetically enhanced women."

I blushed a little.

He scooted to the edge of the couch. "You know the mechanics of sex I assume, and to be safe with foam and condoms to prevent STD's and pregnancy?"

I pinched my nose, wishing he would just shut up. Did he not see Aunt Esme sitting right next to me?

"Yeah, I know that stuff," I said with a huff and glanced at Esme.

He cleared his throat, "Ah, Esme, do you mind stepping out for a moment?" Thank god he got the clue.

"Are you okay with that, Edward?" she asked.

I nodded yes tightly.

"Okay, just, you know, if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen working on dinner."

"Sure, thanks," I said and she smiled.

Once the door was closed, I looked over at Carlisle and he grimaced. "Do you think you've caught an STD? Is there something wrong with your…"

"No, god no, I just..." I felt my face heat up and decided the floor would be the best place to look as I said this because I didn't think I had it in me to see his reaction to what I was about to ask. "I was just wondering…how to make a girl feel good."

I heard Carlisle gulp loudly. "Uh, well, um…have you studied the female genitalia in biology?"

"We went over the parts, if that's what you're asking. They don't exactly say touch here for orgasm or label anything the 'G-spot.'"

"Right, well, yes, um…" Carlisle squirmed.

"Do you not know how either?" I asked wondering why he was squirming so badly.

His eyes shot to mine. "Esme is fully satisfied I assure you. I just don't know if this is knowledge you need before marriage."

"So, is there somewhere or someone else that will tell me?" I asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can I ask why you need to know this? Are you planning on having intercourse?"

I shook my head no. The most Bella agreed to was messing around, not the full blown sex act. "No."

He let out a relieved sigh. "So, is this just normal curiosity?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, a guy wants to know how to do it right if given the opportunity."

"Are you a virgin, Edward?"

I blushed again. "Yes."

He smiled and chuckled lightly. "Good, that's good. Don't lose your virginity on a hormonal whim. It's something special that's taken too lightly nowadays." He pinched his nose again. "So, Edward, could you tell me how far you've gone with a girl, just so I can gauge how much you already know."

"Um, well, see, there was this girl, Tanya, who would sneak onto Campus at night when I was in school in Seattle." I rubbed my face, trying to find a way to word this. "She would kiss me and I would touch her chest. She would touch me and she put her mouth on me once, but I didn't…" I couldn't believe I was talking about this.

"When you say 'put her mouth on you', do you mean on your penis?" he asked.

I nodded yes.

"But you didn't what? Did you not like it?"

"No, I did, it's just…she, um, stopped. Anyway, that's it; can we not discuss this anymore? I just want to know where to touch a girl to get her off."

"Is there someone special you want to touch?"

I dropped my head into my hands, this was freaking torture.

"Well, I'll tell you, Edward, the best thing to remember in every aspect of your relationships is to use communication. Everyone is different. Your best bet would be to ask her what she likes."

I looked up at him pained. I should have known better. He was no help at all. Maybe I could drop by Planned Parenthood or something and get a pamphlet on it. On second thought, I just hoped Bella didn't call. Yeah, definitely not going to be of any real help to her there.

Man, I sucked.

A/N Not what you thought now huh! Thanks for reading please review.


	26. Chapter 26

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 26 The deafening silence

BPOV

So, you've all heard of a comfortable silence? Well, this wasn't it. I didn't know why Edward insisted on driving me to school for the rest of the week, especially when he was acting so weird. Alice and Emmett sat with me at lunch, but he was 'busy', doing what, I didn't know.

We didn't have any more real work in biology, just review for the final and then the final itself. That was all done on our own and he seemed to be really focused, so I didn't bother him. After the second day of his crazy silence, I just spent the rest of the class time in the library. I mean really, no need to torture each other.

I tried a couple of times to walk home, but it was like Alice could sense this and would catch me just as I stepped onto the parking lot asphalt and would hook my arm, dragging me to her brother's car. Why she insisted on dragging out this torture, I didn't know. I was definitely looking forward to the whole summer, not associating with anyone for anything.

The second to last day of school, my dad told me that my mother was coming home. I cleaned from top to bottom, nervous I had missed something. I didn't want her to have to go back because I missed something and she got sick again. Dad had the guys come clean the vents in the house again, which only spurred more cleaning because they pulled all sorts of crap out of them.

The last day of school, Alice and Edward picked me up, but today, Alice was bouncing in her seat. "Bella, I got this new mani-pedi set. I totally have to come over and give you one to kick off the summer."

"You can't," I panicked, "No one can come over, my mom is coming home and it's bad enough I go to school, you can't come over."

They looked at me like I was nuts and I realized they had no idea what I was talking about. "My mom is in the hospital because her body doesn't fight germs like it should. She's coming home today. I have to hurry home and clean the house again and then clean myself up before she gets there. No one can come over, it'll introduce more germs."

"But..." Alice whined.

"NO!" Edward snapped. "Alice, this is her mother. You won't risk her losing hers over a damn manly paddy."

"You're right," she pouted but then snickered. "Manly paddy? What the hell do you think we're doing to each other, Edward? A manly paddy? Yes, I would like a man burger with a side of 'oh, he's so hot sauce.'"

Edward scowled and I did my best not to snicker, much. When we pulled up to the school, he grabbed my door like usual. "Thank you," I said but didn't move. I grabbed his arm before he could turn away, "Really, for everything."

He smiled and nodded, and then he hurried off like his tail was on fire.

I noticed Alice was standing there with her door open and smirking. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just watch," she smirked.

Edward stopped at the top of the school steps and turned to lock the car doors with the button on the keys but he couldn't because Alice was holding the door open. We heard the clicking a couple of times and Alice just burst out laughing.

"Alice, what are you doing?" I hissed. There was no need to piss him off.

She leaned on the roof of the car and waved at him. He finally stormed back over to the car disgruntled. "What, Alice?" he growled.

"You forgot your backpack," she said dancing away, leaving her door open.

He let out a huff and reached in the back seat where he usually kept it and slung it over his shoulder. He slammed the door and locked it. "You could have just brought it to me," he complained.

"What, and miss out on a chance to annoy my dear brother? What kind of sister do you take me for?" she asked. "Oh, I know; the kind that eats manly paddies. Would you like me to get you one at lunch, Bella?" she sassed.

I couldn't resist. "Yes, with extra 'oh, so hot sauce' please."

"Coming right up!" she said and then shoved her brother into me. She giggled as she skipped away.

I had lost my balance when Edward slammed into me, so he had to grab me to steady me. He looked down at me and blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, Edward, whatever it is, just get it over with already; you're driving me nuts!"

He stepped back, let out a sigh, and shook his head. "Sorry, I just…" he cringed, "I'll see you later," he said and ran off. Freaking crazy boy!

EPOV

I was going to strangle my sister. Okay, maybe not, but that little pixie demon was evil. She knew there was something awkward between Bella and I and she did everything in her power to make it worse. I was surprised she just didn't come out and asked why I wasn't fucking Bella.

I was kind of relieved when Bella said people couldn't come visit her house. That would make it impossible for me to be able to come help her with her problem. No way could I tutor her now.

I sat down next to her in biology. It was free time because we had taken the final yesterday. There were a few losers retaking it today, but you know, whatever, I wasn't one of them.

Bella was just sitting there doodling on her notebook, when I noticed she was humming something that sounded familiar.

"What song is that?" I asked.

Her eyes popped open wide for a second, but then she quickly calmed herself. "What?" she asked.

"That song you're humming, it sounds familiar, what is it?"

"How should I know, you were the one humming it first," she accused.

I looked at her like she was nuts. I wasn't humming, was I? I didn't think I was. One would know if one was humming. Right? "I wasn't humming," I stated flatly.

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Yes, you were, um, in the car…or something. Maybe it was Alice that hummed it. What is it?" she asked turning it around on me.

"Why are you asking me, I asked you? Hum it again," I told her.

She shook her head no. "I don't remember it now. You got me all mixed up."

The thing was I remembered what she hummed so I would just have to run it over in my head until I remembered.

It wasn't until much later that day that I remembered it. I went to my room and looked over at my guitar sitting on its stand when it all clicked. Super Shake! She was humming the melody to Super Shake! How the hell did she know that song! Did I really hum it? How else would she know it? I looked at my window and I started to wonder if Bella Swan was the sneaky person in the shadows. I knew I wasn't imagining shit because they sneezed last time.

I shook my head. That was crazy. Bella lived on the other side of town and didn't have a car. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

BPOV

Holy fucking hell, he caught me humming Super Shake and I didn't even realize I was humming it at the time. Thank god I didn't break out into verse because there was no way I would have been able to explain how I knew the words. I was glad that this was the last day of school and he knew he couldn't come to see me because of my mother, so I was safe from interrogation.

Of course, all that flew out the window when I went to work on Saturday and saw Edward walking toward me. He had a smile on his face. "Hey, Berry, looking good today," he said and I waved at him.

I wasn't going to bring up the song if he didn't.

"How's your mom?" he asked and I was a little relieved.

"Good, she's doing good and happy to be home. We're happy to have her home."

"That's good."

"Yeah," I said nodding but he couldn't see it.

"Well, I have to go. I have a class you know."

"Yeah, see you around," I said.

He nodded. "See you later."

Why was everything so painfully awkward? I leaned against the wall and was watching him walk away when I saw Tyler step around the corner. I didn't think anything of it because Edward had handed Tyler his ass more than once.

Edward didn't even bother to glare at the ass. Just then, I saw something Edward didn't because his back was turned. Tyler pulled out a knife. I went running after them and knocked Tyler over. His knife poked into the side of the costume. Tyler was screaming obscenities and stabbing at the costume, and then I heard Edward freaking out screaming.

I kneed Tyler in the balls and rolled the costume onto the arm holding the knife. He stabbed it into the costume, just missing me, and I pulled a turtle on him and pulled my body into the costume and yanked the knife all the way in by the blade so he couldn't stab at me again, then I rolled on top of him, holding him down.

"Call my dad, Edward, call the police already!" I snapped at him.

Edward was shaking as he dialed. "Are you okay, Bella? Did he…god, Bella, are you okay?" he asked. "Chief, I don't know, we're on First near Main, Tyler had a knife and she jumped him so he couldn't stab me. Fuck, Chief, he kept stabbing at her, just get here!"

I heard the siren long before I saw it. My dad barely stopped the car before he jumped out of it.

"Bella, honey, are you alright?" my dad asked.

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine. I told Edward I was. Tyler was stabbing at the costume, but he didn't get me."

"Dad?" Tyler asked confused, looking back between me and my dad. "Oh, shit," he mumbled.

Dad yanked Tyler up off the ground and slammed him against his car. He started reading him his rights as he cuffed him. I saw Tyler wince as my dad tightened them around his wrists and shoved him hard into the back seat so he kind of belly flopped in there. He slammed the door and I called to him.

"Daddy, you're going to need this," I said popping my arm out, holding the knife by the blade. I knew not to touch the handle; they would want to get prints off of it.

My dad pulled out an evidence bag, and when I dropped the knife into the bag, we all noticed the blood on it and my hand.

"Bella, baby, are you okay?" he asked again. "Edward, help me get this damn thing off of her!"

The men lifted the costume off of me. Both of them were frantically looking me over. "I just cut my hand when I grabbed the knife," I insisted, "It's no big deal."

My dad looked me over for puncture wounds, and when they were both sure I wasn't hurt anywhere else, they both settled on attacking my injured hand.

"It doesn't really hurt," I said.

"That isn't good. That means it's deep. You need stitches," Edward said. "I'm taking you to the hospital. Carlisle can stitch you up with no waiting."

I looked at my dad. "He's right, Bella. I would take you but I've got to get this scum locked up before I can get you in my car. I don't want you anywhere near him again." He turned to Edward. "Are you sure your okay with taking her?"

"I insist; she saved me, Chief. It's the least I could do. Can you just call ahead and let them know I'm coming?"

"Will do, you take care of my baby girl, Edward."

"I will, Sir, I promise."

Dad eyed Edward one last time before he pulled away.

"I have to take the costume back to the restaurant," I muttered.

"Bella," he started to protest but I ignored him and grabbed it up in my good hand and started dragging it toward the restaurant. I realized my injured hand was starting to bleed heavily.

"Damn it, Bella," Edward snapped and yanked the costume from me. He ran it down to the diner and I sat down and put my head between my legs, feeling a little light-headed.

He pulled his car up next to me, and when I raised my head up and looked up at him, everything went black.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 The good mud

BPOV

I woke up in the hospital with a stitched and wrapped hand and a worried Edward looking over me. Dr. Cullen looked down at me and smiled. I realized I had an IV and a hospital gown on. "What happened?" I asked the doctor.

"I suspect you had an adrenalin rush when you stopped Tyler from attacking Edward. You were injured, dear, and when you finally had a chance to settle down, your blood pressure dropped as your body attempted to calm itself down. Basically, you were suffering from shock, but you're fine now. We're just looking after you to make sure that you're completely stable."

I took a deep breath and looked over at Edward who had red rimmed eyes. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He laughed and shook his head no. "Why are you asking me that? You know I'm fine. You stopped that jerk from stabbing me in the back, Bella. He probably would have killed me, and then you. The guy was completely crazy out of control. What the hell were you thinking?"

I shrugged. "That I didn't want Tyler to hurt you."

Dr. Cullen smiled at me and patted my hand. "Thank you for saving Edward. Our family will be forever grateful."

Esme Cullen came running into my room and hugged Edward tightly. She had tears in her eyes and kissed his cheeks several times. He blushed and I laughed. My laughing brought me to her attention.

"I'm so happy to hear you're doing well." She walked over and took my hand, but then pulled me up to hug me. She kissed the top of my head. "If there's any way we can repay you, you let us know. Anything," she said and turned to Dr. Cullen, "Isn't that right, Carlisle; we'll give you anything for saving our Edward."

I blushed and shook my head no. "I don't need anything."

"Surely you can think of something you need, or want?" Esme asked.

I shook my head no. "I only want my mom to get better and Dr. Cullen already is working on that," I said with a shrug.

Esme gave me a worried look and snapped over to her husband. "What's wrong with her mother?"

He frowned. I knew he couldn't tell her, but I could. "She has an auto-immune disorder. She gets sick and is in the hospital a lot. She's fine now, though, she just got home from her last stint here."

"Wait, is that why she didn't attend the dinner the night of the dance?"

Dr. Cullen and I both nodded yes.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. It must be so hard taking care of things at home when your mother is ill."

I just shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. Speaking of which, when do I get to go home, doc?"

"We're going to keep you overnight, but your dad can check you out in the morning."

I let out a sigh. "Okay."

"Carlisle, is there anything we can do for her family?" Esme asked again.

"It's an illness, Esme. I've already done all I can. It isn't something you can cure. It's just something that their family has to live with."

Deputy Dallas walked in. "Evening, everyone. I'd like to talk to Ms. Bella for a moment if she's up to it."

"Of course, Officer Dallas, have they determined what they're going to charge Tyler Crowley with?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, they counted nine stab wounds in the costume Ms. Bella was wearing, and considering he originally was going to attack Edward here, we believe his intent was murder, so he'll be charged with two counts of attempted murder. Being seventeen and given that his crimes have escalated, he'll most likely get charged as an adult." He looked over at me. "Luck must have been on your side. Looks like only your hand was injured; the way he went at you appears to have been incredibly violent judging by the force he had to use to drive his knife through that tough, thick costume. It's really a miracle he didn't hurt you more."

I blushed at Deputy Dallas's assessment.

"It really is no big deal. He couldn't tell where I was in my suit," I explained.

"Still, that took some balls, little girl."

I shook my head and looked up at Edward. He seemed to look ashamed for some reason.

Everyone left the room and Deputy Dallas took my statement. He recorded it on a video and I showed him as best I could how I attacked Tyler and disarmed him.

EPOV

Bella scared the shit out of me. I seriously almost pissed myself when I came running into the ER screaming for Carlisle with Bella out cold in my arms.

He had said she was going into shock and treated her for it, then sewed up her hand before he woke her. I guess it was one less thing she had to go through. Chief Swan had called him and told him what had happened. Once he was done stitching her hand, he hugged me tightly. I didn't know why, it must have been the stress of the previous events, but I burst into tears and sobbed as I hugged him back.

"God, Edward, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't there to save you. I swear I'm going to be a better father figure. I know I'll never take Ed's place, but I'm going to do the best I can at showing you that I love you just as much as he did. Esme and I both do, I'm so sorry I let my anger interfere with that. I promise, I'm getting help. Just know that I love you more than anything. You and Alice both are our children and I promise to always be there for you." He kissed my head and gave me one last squeeze. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you, too." He stepped back and shook his head. He dried his eyes with his hanky and smiled at me. "Now let's wake up the hero of the day."

I couldn't help but smile at that thought. Bella really was my hero. I guess I would have to add another verse to Super Shake for her. No, I should write something totally her own, because it was Bella, not the shake, that had saved me.

Bella being Bella, she didn't ask Carlisle or Esme for anything. She just wanted to go home to her mom. She dismissed the thought of being a hero just like a true hero would and I realized I didn't think I was hero material. I felt like a jerk. I was in shock when I heard that Tyler had stabbed at her nine times. I was ashamed that I hadn't done more to try and help her. She had just caught me so off guard, but then I couldn't tell what he was doing. It was like he was hitting her. I started for him, but she had already stopped him and told me to call her dad. I didn't know why I didn't do more, why I couldn't do more.

It was that moment right there that would define the rest of my life. I decided I would never again get caught not doing more.

In my shame, I could barely look at Bella anymore.

I didn't see her for the rest of the summer. It wasn't until we met up at Tyler's trial that I saw her again.

She smiled and it took my breath away when I noticed she'd gotten her braces off over the summer, and her face had cleared up nicely. It also looked like her hair had grown a lot and she had it straightened and pulled back, making her neck look even more delicate. I had a hard time not staring at her through the whole trial without drooling on myself.

Tyler went away for ten years for his attack. I noticed the look on his face when he saw Bella sitting on the stand. The prosecutor had her hold up her scarred hand. The deep cut had definitely left a prominent mark. He looked sick to his stomach. I think we were all shocked when he shouted out that he was sorry and that he loved her as they dragged him away sobbing. I may have been wrong, but she looked sad to see him go as well. That was when I realized that Bella Swan had a soft heart.

Carlisle did finally come up with a way to thank the Swans and help Bella's mother. Esme and Carlisle paid to have a fancy air conditioning and heating unit put in that filtered the air so it was super clean. I was in the car when Carlisle stopped to tell Chief Swan about the company coming to install it. The Chief cried and hugged Carlisle and I knew that really was the best gift my family could have given them.

The first day of senior year, I looked for Bella Swan, but she wasn't there. I asked Alice if she had seen her and she said no. Alice had decided she wanted to accelerate her course load and graduate with me. She seemed to be all over the school like a whirlwind and too caught up in her own work to really worry about anything else.

I had been in touch with Jasper and decided to attend school in New York to be close to him at West Point. We had a plan, but it would take some work to get there. Alice would be coming with me to New York if things worked out the way she hoped. She wanted to become a fashion designer. She hoped to attend some school there. I knew I should have been more interested in what the hell my baby sister was doing, but I had to admit I was still distracted.

I went by the Swan residence after school. I knocked on the door and saw Mrs. Swan through the window. "Hello, Edward, right?" she said not opening the door, but I understood why. "Bella's around back if you'd like to see her."

"Thank you, Ma'am," I said with a smile and waved.

I found Bella on the back porch. I had to admit, I just about vomited when I saw what she was doing. She was stitching up a tiny black and white kitten's thigh. The cat was still awake and looking at her, but not meowing.

"Why doesn't it hurt it?" I asked.

She didn't look up, just stayed focus. "I used a local topical anesthetic. It's just a shallow gash, but there's a large portion of flapping skin." She put the last couple of stitches in and then looked up at me. "This tiny little guy is such a troublemaker. I swear I just dewormed him two days ago and he sneaks off, only to come back cut up. I have no idea how he got out of the back yard or what he's getting into. Probably looking for his mother."

"Whose cat is he?"

"No one's. He's just a stray, but he's a sweetheart, isn't that right, Max," she said as she kissed his head. He tapped her cheek with his paw like he was saying thank you. She curled the little fur ball up and then taped up his leg with the stitches. "Now, we've got to keep you from chewing on your stitches."

"You're very good with him. Why don't you keep him?"

"I can't, my mom can't be around animals. They carry too many germs."

"Right," I said feeling like an idiot.

"Do you know someone who would like a kitten?"

I didn't know what to say; the truth was I didn't, but I really wanted to help her out. I just shook my head no.

"Can you hold him for me?" she asked.

I nodded yes and she surprised me by opening a bench seat on the back porch. She pulled out a plastic box and pulled out a folder with the title 'Max the kitten' on it. She wrote something down and then slipped it back inside her box. While she was doing this, Max crawled up my shoulder and started sucking on my earlobe. I couldn't help but chuckle as I tried to pull him away from my ear.

"He likes you," Bella said with such a sweet soft smile.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute himself. What happened to his mommy?"

"Katy died; she was hit by a car and was killed instantly along with her two other kittens that were following her. Max here was the runt and was a running a little behind, so he was safely out of the way when they were hit."

"Oh, my god, that's horrible!" I clung a little tighter to the kitten, feeling his pain. I knew what it felt like to lose your mommy.

"It was. Mrs. Carter called me when she couldn't get a hold of animal control. I've been taking care of him since. I would have turned him over so he could be adopted, but they wanted to charge me to take him," she shook her head

"But he's just a baby!"

"I know, Edward. I'm doing what I can, but if you can find someone to take him so he could have a home and a family that loves him, that would be best. I've been keeping him in a box here on the porch, but the little rascal climbed out and something attacked him. He's lucky to be alive. It's too bad he's got it so rough. He really has such a sweet disposition," she said scratching his head. He just started purring. She was right; he was so sweet, he deserved a home and a loving family.

"Would you like to give him his bottle?" she asked me.

"Bottle?"

"Yes, he's still just a baby, not much more than three or four weeks old. I have a bottle for him here." She reached into the bench again and pulled out a bottle and poured some powder into it, then added some water, shaking it up. "Here, I'll bet he's hungry."

I awkwardly took the tiny bottle, but the little guy seemed to know just what to do and excitedly sucked it down. He pawed at my hand with his tiny white feet while he made little contented purring noises as he ate with his eyes closed. He really was just a baby. Someone needed to keep a closer eye on him than Bella could. I couldn't just walk away from this little guy. "I'll take him."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'm keeping this little guy," I said. He finished off the last of his bottle, curled up in my palm, and dozed off. He was so bitty and sweet. I couldn't just leave him out in the world all alone to fend for himself!

"Okay, I'll give you the kitten bottle, milk, and I'll write out instructions for his care for another two to three weeks. He goes potty by himself now, so you're lucky there," she grinned. "I'll also give you his records. He'll be due for some shots soon and you'll probably want to get him fixed so he doesn't spray."

"Spray? Spray what?"

"There are scent glands that cats have around their anus that excrete a territorial scent to ward off other cats. If you get him fixed and get those taken care of as well, I believe Esme will tolerate him in her perfect house," she said with a smirk.

"Sure, yeah, okay," I said not really understanding. He was too cute to not tolerate. "So, why weren't you in school today?" I asked.

"Well, I'm going to finish my senior year at home with my mom. This way I won't bring home excessive germs from public school and I can move at my own pace, which is quite a bit faster than public school. I'm also taking a few college courses on-line as well. Plus, I get to spend more time with my mom. It really is a win-win. It also gives me more time to take care of my stray patients, and I get to help out at the vet clinic in town twice a week."

"That's good," I said trying not to sound too disappointed. "That's really good for you," I tried to sound more convincing, but the truth was I was going to miss her.

"I should probably get going. Are you sure you're okay with taking Max?"

"Yeah, of course, I'm not going to let this little guy down," I promised, and I wouldn't.

She thanked me and turned to go inside. I stood there and watched her through her back door window. She shocked me by stripping off her shirt and throwing it along with her jeans into the washer by the back door. She looked over her shoulder at me and winked, and then I watched as she bent over. I didn't know what she was doing, but then she dropped her panties in the washer with another wink. She smiled again as she popped her bra off, her back still to me, and then opened the door to her left. She waved and disappeared.

I had just watched Bella Swan strip. Holy hell, she totally stripped for me on purpose! "Did you see that, Max?" I asked the kitten in awe, but he was sound asleep. I looked around to see if anyone else had seen me watching her, but no one had.

Freaking hell that was hot!


	28. Chapter 28

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 28 Strangers in the night

BPOV

I was busy. That was an understatement. I was insanely busy, I should say. I had started my senior classes over the summer. My dad had approached me with the idea and I jumped on it. I wanted to be with my mother and this would help keep her from getting sick. By the time school started, I only had Senior English to finish up to graduate. Stupid literature, who needed that crap anyway? I was sure the animals I treated wouldn't care that I had read _The Scarlet Letter_. Yeah, that class was totally bogus and didn't go with my profession.

Mom broached the idea of me taking some online college courses when she saw how well I was doing with my other online work. The reality of it all was that it was easy to concentrate and get my work done when no one was around judging me or waiting to harass me. Basically, no distractions made for quick work of my senior courses.

I used the last of my shake job money to pay for the college classes and had been doing awesome in them. It felt really good to be moving closer to my goal. I was going to become a vet a lot faster than I thought. I just hoped Sue and Harry replaced the shake costume soon. Tyler's parents paid to buy a new one since he had ruined the last one. Harry said he would call me if they get one. He just had to get Sue on board with the idea again.

In the meantime, I needed a little part-time job so I could pay for next semester's classes as well. Since I was not a graduate yet, I couldn't get financial aid, at least that was what I thought. I just had better get that damn English class over with so I could really apply for grants and loans.

In the meantime, I got a job cleaning cages at the local vet. When I explained my expertise in disinfecting due to my mother's illness, I got the job. When I chatted with Dr. Gartner and told her of my interest in becoming a vet, she would call me over to watch procedures and taught me some of the basics when I confessed to helping out strays. Luckily for me, she also passed me some free sample stuff to give my patients. Dr. Gartner was really cool. I hoped that she let me practice under her when I finally finished my degree. She also taught me the importance of keeping records, even if my patients were strays, so I took her advice and did just that.

I was treating Max, the sweetest little black kitten with white paws, when Edward came to visit. I was a little shocked to see him, having not really heard from him all summer. He seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing, though, so I let him help me with Max. When I saw how he reacted to Max's story, I knew he would make a good cat daddy. It was obvious Edward was taken with my little boy. Maybe now he would have a legitimate excuse to talk to me.

As for the show I gave him when I went inside, I figured it was only fair since he had done the same for me, unbeknownst to him of course.

EPOV

I took my little Max and tucked him in my front shirt pocket. I realized I was going to need a few supplies and decided to go to Port Angeles and get what he needed. I figured since he was tucked down in my shirt pocket, no one would know that I had him in the store.

When I got there, I was a little surprised to see other people walking around with animals. I guess it was alright to bring your pet to the pet store. I grabbed a cart and found the aisles lined with cat stuff. I grabbed Max a bed, and then a cat box and litter. I found where the baby bottles were and the formula and decided to stock up since I didn't like coming all the way to PA that often. I grabbed some cans of cat food and some dry food, not sure which was best, so I just got the most expensive in both cases, hoping that would give Max the quality food he needed. I would have to ask Bella about what food was best for him.

As I started for the door, I saw an aisle full of cat toys and just had to get some for my baby. When I was checking out, the jerk cashier was looking at me funny. "Cat, huh?" he asked smirking.

"Yeah," I said a little defensively, guys could have cats.

He snickered and I wanted to punch him in the face. Max poked his head out of my pocket for the first time. "Dude, seriously? You could have totally lied and said it was your girlfriend's, but that's just pussy right there," he said pointing to Max laughing.

I snatched his finger and broke it. "You leave Max out of this," I growled at him and Max must have gotten nervous because he tucked back down in my pocket again. Luckily for me, the asshole had already rung the last of my stuff up so I only had to slide my card and get the hell out of there. I ignored his whining and his calling for security, which was just a fat guy with a dog loop on the end of a pole. The security guy looked confused at me as I walked out. "That asshole needs to be fired!" I shouted at him and security dude grimaced but nodded in agreement. I guess he didn't like him, either.

I settled down when I got in my car and headed home. Little Max climbed up on my shoulder for the ride and was looking out the window. He was such a cute little puff ball. I took him off my shoulder and tucked him back in my pocket so I would have free hands to grab his stuff from the back seat. There was quite a bit of it.

When I came in the front door, I was attacked by Esme. "Where were you? I was worried sick!" She stopped and looked at my bags. "Pet Land?"

I shrugged. "I needed a few things," I said.

"From Pet Land? Edward, what are you up to?" she asked as she followed me to my room. I set the stuff down and started unpacking the litter box first because that was very important.

"Edward, why do you have a litter box?"

I realized as I dumped the litter in that she had yet to see little Max in my pocket. I took out my mini muffin ball and sat him in the cat box. When I did, Esme gasped.

"Edward! Where did you get that?" she said in a less than welcoming tone, but it didn't seem to bother Max because he was still able to do his business. I knew he was due for another bottle and quickly made one for him using my bathroom sink. When I came back into my room, Esme was smirking and Max was on his back in front of his cat box.

"What?" I asked.

"I think the box is a bit big for him, he fell out."

"Oh. Little boy, do we need to get you a step for your cat box?" I laughed as I picked him up. His eyes focused on the bottle and he seemed to get excited, causing me to laugh. I teased him for a moment and then gave him his bottle. "Who's daddy's big boy? You eat up so you can get big and strong," I cooed as I kissed his little head.

"Edward, honey, what happened to his leg?"

"He had a bad scratch from something attacking him. He's just a stray that lost his mommy and siblings when a car hit them. He was the runt and was lagging behind. I'm all he has left," I said rubbing my nose on his little head.

I heard a sigh of defeat come from Esme. "Okay, you can keep him. What's his name?"

"Max, Max Cullen," I said proudly. He was my little boy.

Esme got more and more progressively excited about Max, even feeding him his bottle a couple of times. In fact, that was just what she was doing when Carlisle came home.

"We have a kitten!" she announced excitedly like she was announcing she'd just had a baby.

Carlisle looked confused but kissed Esme's head. I should have known he would give her anything that made her happy. He scratched Max's head and said, "That's nice, dear," kissing her cheek. When he really looked down at tiny Max, he smiled. "He's a cute little guy. Where did you find him?" he asked.

"Edward brought him home. Apparently, Bella Swan tends to stray animals but can't keep them and when he saw little Max, he just had to have him."

Carlisle looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. I just shrugged and he snickered. "Well then, welcome to the family, Max."

That night, I set Max in his little bed only to wake up to the little fur ball snuggled into my ear. I still didn't know how he got up on my bed, but I figured I had better just put him on the bed from now on so he didn't hurt his leg trying to get up there. Silly little monkey.

BPOV

I was curious to see how Max was doing with Edward, but I didn't know how to ask him about it. Thankfully, my dad had me get my license over the summer, so I drove the booger mobile over to the Cullen's. Okay, not all the way there. I parked a ways away and walked the rest so I could peek in the window. What I saw was adorable. Edward's room looked like Pet Land threw up in it. There were kitty toys and bottles everywhere. I noticed the cat box had a couple of makeshift steps which were just too cute, but the cutest thing of all was Edward and Max fast asleep on the bed. Max was curled up in the crook of Edward's neck and Edward was tilting his head in his direction as if snuggling back. I knew then that Max had a good home. I should have never doubted Edward. He really was the sweetest guy I had ever met. Seeing him cuddled up to my favorite kitten just made my tummy do little back flips.

I was pretty sure I was falling in love with Edward Cullen.

A/N Thanks for reading please review. Pictures of Max are on my profile. Also if you were a fan of Eden or All boys' camp we are reposting a rewrite of it called _Out of Eden_ that has a ton more EPOV. Check it out for kicks and giggles.


	29. Chapter 29

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it. I just write it.

Chapter 29 Dancing in the moonlight.

BPOV

Edward had called the vet and scheduled an appointment for Max. I told Dr. Gartner about Max being one of my patients that I was able to find a home for and she was excited to meet him. Edward had brought Max over a week after he had taken him home so I could re-tape his little leg. I guess he had been getting frisky with it. I checked the stitches and they were looking good. That was when I reminded him to make an appointment with Dr. Gartner for his shots and fixing.

Edward walked into the office smiling and surprised me by giving me a soft hug.

"Where's Max?" I asked excited to see him.

Edward pointed to his shirt pocket. I looked down in it and couldn't help but smile at the fat bellied baby all curled up asleep. "He's looking so good, Edward. You're doing wonderful with him," I praised just as Dr. Gartner came out.

"Well, you must be Edward, proud owner of the infamous Max. Bella can't stop talking about you two." I totally blushed but Edward didn't seem bothered by it.

"Yeah, I have his records that Bella kept when she was looking after him here," he said handing them over to her.

"Bella, could you make copies of these and get a file started for little Max?"

"Yes, of course!" I said and quickly got to work. I wanted to join them in the exam room as soon as possible.

When I finished, I popped in smiling as Edward scratched Max's belly on the table.

"I was just checking his stitches, Bella. You did very good on them. I'm impressed," she said.

"Thank you, you taught me everything I know when it comes to that."

"Well, I'm glad it's going to good use. I just gave him his first round of shots and I see that you already dewormed him, which is obvious by his big belly. He's in good health, but I want his leg all the way healed before we get him fixed."

"Yes, I agree. No need to stress his little system more than need be," I said

Max toddled over to me across the stainless steel table, slipping a little on his own furry paws. I picked him up and snuggled him. "How's my big boy, is daddy treating you good? Is he spoiling my baby?"

EPOV

Bella was baby talking to Max, calling me his daddy and referring to herself as his mommy. I think I might be a little messed up because for some reason that was turning me on. Max was doing great. He had grown so much in the past two weeks and was ready for his shots. I was pleasantly surprised when Bella was there at the vet for our appointment, but I should have known she would never miss Max's first doctor's appointment. The vet seemed really impressed with her work and even copied her files and put them into Max's official file.

I guess Bella wasn't kidding when she said she was studying to be a vet. I remembered seeing her box of files. She obviously had lots of patients. The fact that she loved them seemed to just make her an awesome vet.

BPOV

I didn't realize how much I missed little Max until I watched Edward leave with him. Dr. Gartner came up behind me. "You did really good placing him, Bella. I'm impressed with how well kept his records are as well. I know you can't keep pets at your house, but have you ever thought of starting a sort of shelter for them since you already are caring for them?"

"I would love to, but there's so much more I need to learn to do before I can do that," I said smiling.

"Well, let's get to teaching then. I think it would do you good to learn how to vaccinate animals and just how to measure the medicine. Vaccinating strays will help prevent the spread of disease among house pets as well. You can get the vaccines at the feed store for you patients. If you find homes, then you can have them come to me for the fixing. They'll need to be put under for those operations. Really, we should find a way to do that as well. If they're fixed, then we can help control the feral cat population."

"That would be cool. I'm already in college working on my degree in biology, but it'll be a while before I get to vet school."

"You're a very impressive young lady, Bella. I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out," she said with a wink.

It was two weeks later that Esme brought in little Max again. I was surprised to see her and she me.

"Bella Swan, is that you? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked in a surprised but happy voice.

"I'm actually done with my schooling and working on my college degree now."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were a senior last year."

"I wasn't, I just finished my senior courses over the summer. I'm going to school to become a vet, so I work here a couple of days a week."

"Well, this is nice, isn't it? It's wonderful to see motivated young people really going after their dreams aggressively."

"Thanks," I said surprised. I was always under the impression that Esme didn't like me, but I guess she seemed to be warming up to me. I held back my snicker as she pulled Max out of her coat pocket. I guess pocket was Max's main mode of transportation. She watched me as I did his checking in and took his measurements, making notes in his chart.

"Well now, I see our little Max has returned to get his stitches out and get neutered. Bella, since you put them in, would you like to do the honors of removing them?" she asked.

I perked right up. "Yes, that would be awesome." I picked up little Max and snuggled him. I gently unwrapped his leg while cooing to my little boy and picked up the snips, holding his leg extended while I worked. I wiped the area down so I could see the stitches clearly and then start removing them. He didn't give me any trouble as I kept my forehead against his, rubbing his head while I looked down to see what I was doing.

"You're truly amazing with him," Esme said when I finished.

"Nah, he's just my baby," I said kissing Max's head. "Isn't that right, baby?" I said snuggling him and he nuzzled back.

"Bella, can you feed him this bottle with the tranquilizer in it so we can get to work?" Dr. Gartner asked.

"Of course, I miss doing this," I said. Max was a good boy, taking the bottle happily and sucking it all down fast. No wonder he was such a fat little baby. He was out cold when he took his last sip and I rubbed his little belly and kissed his head. Truth was I was worried about this operation, but I needed to buck up and show I trusted Dr. Gartner so Esme would not become nervous as well.

Dr. Gartner came into the room in operating gear and took my baby from me. "Why don't you go sit with Esme, honey?" Dr. Gartner said.

I nodded okay because she was right. I needed to sit down. I was surprised when Esme took my hand and squeezed it. "You're very good with animals. You have a gift. You're definitely going into the right profession."

"Thank you," I said not sure what else to say.

"Edward seems really taken with little Max. I think it's done his heart good to have him. He takes his care very seriously."

I just nodded.

"I brought him in to be fixed behind Edward's back because he was researching the procedure and was going to ask to stand in to make sure Max was alright. He was so worried."

"Oh, heavens. Well, Max is in good hands with Dr. Gartner. That's really sweet of him to be freaking out about him."

Esme chuckled. "Yes, that's one way to put it."

Dr. Gartner interrupted us. "Everything went smoothly. I have a couple of prescriptions here for him," she said handing Esme a couple of dropper bottles. "One is for pain; the other is to make sure there's no start of infection. He's still on his pain medicine right now so he won't need anything for another six hours if at all. Bella, why don't you go back with little Max as he'll be waking up soon."

"Of course," I said rushing back to my baby.

EPOV

I came home from school to see my mother holding my kitten. She was talking softly to him, apologizing for his rough day.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I took him to get fixed. Everything went well." She rushed out before I could yell at her, but I followed.

"How could you do that? How could you make him go through that alone?"

"He wasn't alone, Edward, I was there, along with Ms. Swan. She took care of Max like he was her own. He's fine."

I had rushed forward and took my baby from her. "Max, baby, I'm so sorry."

Max nuzzled and batted at me sloppily.

Esme giggled. "He's a bit high. He's on his painkillers, Edward. He really is fine."

I pouted and went to my room, cuddling my little boy. I couldn't believe they fixed my cat without telling me. I tucked my little boy into my pocket. I was going to go talk to Bella Swan.

I went around to her back gate and found her giving a big black cat a shot. "He's not yours!"

"He's not anybody's, but someone needs to look out for him."

"I'm Max's dad, he's my cat! You shouldn't have fixed him while I was at school!"

"Dr. Gartner fixed him."

"I thought we were friends!" I snapped.

She looked up at me, her eyes burning. "Really? Because I didn't see you all summer. You want to explain that?"  
>I felt like I had been slapped in the face. "You acted like my friend, but then you just up and disappeared on me."<p>

"No, I..." How did I explain this? "I was ashamed."  
>She looked at me confused. "I should have done more to stop Tyler. I should have been the one fighting the knife away, not you."<p>

She shook her head at me. "You're being ridiculous."

"No, I'm not, Bella, I didn't protect you! I was a mess and you almost died and I did nothing to stop it. I froze. I shouldn't have frozen like that."

She stepped forward and hugged me. "He just caught you off guard, that's all. If he was in front of you going to attack me, you would have stopped him. I know you would."

"When you didn't show up for school that first day, I started freaking out. I was worried something happened to you."

"I'm fine. I just have better things to do than hang around with the likes of Lauren."

I smiled softly at her. "Yeah, you do."

"I would never let anything happen to Max. I'm sorry that Esme went behind your back. I didn't know until after Max was already under and being worked on."

I closed my eyes, thankful that she didn't betray me.

"How is little Max doing?" she asked.

"He's doing fine. Feeling really good," I snickered remembering his stumbling earlier.

"I'm glad. Just remember, Edward, he's my baby, too. I would never let anything happen to him."

She was right and I kind of liked her being Max's mommy and me the daddy. Yeah, I was messed up.

I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek, wishing I could kiss her lips, but I didn't want to push it. I didn't realize she had felt upset over my absence over the summer. I would be sure to make it up to her. "I know, thanks, Bella."

She nodded and grabbed a file. It said 'Blacky' on it. I was guessing that was the black cat she was treating before I interrupted her. After she had given the cat a shot, she slipped it some sort of treat and it ran off. Bella Swan was amazing when it came to animals. I wouldn't be surprised if she became the best vet in the world by the time she was done.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	30. Chapter 30

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 30 Cat scratch fever

EPOV

Max was doing great and I had a legitimate reason to visit Bella on occasion. I hadn't been able to get her out of my head since she did that striptease. I had been dying to jack off, but I just couldn't do it with Max in the room. I started to try to do it under the blanket so he wouldn't see, but he attacked my hand and dick through the blanket. Yeah, I howled like a girl at a Gucci sale when that happened.

I started getting cranky and when I snapped at Alice, she actually stopped and took a good look at me. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at me. "You've been 'hanging out' with Bella for months now. You put off your plans with Jasper to see her and you still aren't getting anywhere. Edward, it's time you man up!"

"I have, that's why I visit her."

She glared at me. "You meeting with her monthly so she can give Max his heartworm and tick prevention medicine does not count as manning up."

"Hey, it prevents fleas, too."

"Edward, please, do us all a favor and ask the girl out already!"

She was right. I had been chickening out and using Max to visit her. She had tried to give me his medicine, but I had insisted that he took it better from his mommy. Yeah, I let that slip, but she just smiled, not making a big deal of it. Max still loved her as much as I did. Yeah, I had finally come to that realization. I just wished she would love me, too. I used to be a cool badass loner, but I had slowly turned into a pining pathetic loser.

"Get your act together, Edward. I know what you and Jasper have planned. You either get off your ass and ask her out or cut ties. You're going to be leaving her in a few months anyway."

Alice was right, but I didn't have to like it.

She stormed off, ignoring me like usual. She had been so busy in her classes that I hardly got to see her and I was starting to miss her. Jasper had been working with me on our college applications. He had been thinking of ways to break it to his parents that he didn't want to go into the military. I figured what we planned on doing would be protecting the country as well, just on a different level. Hopefully, it would go over well.

After another two months of sulking, Christmas was upon us and I knew I wanted to get Bella a present of some sort. I wasn't sure what, but I would find the perfect gift soon. I bundled up Max and headed for the Swan's back yard. Bella had really gotten busy with her makeshift clinic. She had a shed now that housed her patients and kept them warm and dry now that we were going into the winter months.

When I got there, she was packing up a few of her cat friends. "Hey, Bella, where are you going?"

"Well, I found homes for Blacky, Ms. Mae, and Penny."

"Really? That's great, someone is taking all three?"

"Well, they do get along alright and the place is big."

"Really?" I couldn't imagine anywhere in Forks being bigger than my house.

"Yeah, mind giving me a hand?" she asked and I carried two of the carriers to the green station wagon that she drove now. She brought one carrier and a big bag full of what looked like cat supplies.

"So, where are we headed?" I asked inviting myself along.

She just smirked. "The Fork's Nursing Home. They've agreed to take these guys once they were fixed. Dr. Gartner did it for free since she was teaching me."

"That's great."

"Yup, I'm the one that cut off Blacky's balls."

I cringed a little and looked back at the black cat. "And you're still talking to her?" I questioned him making her giggle.

"No, actually, he's not. He's a bit upset about the whole thing, but I figured he already passed down his legacy to Max so he doesn't need any more heirs to the throne," she joked.

"He's Max's dad?"

"Yeah, well, I think he is. He's the only cat around that looks anything like Max within a mile radius and, well, Katy used to hang out with him so it would make sense. Of course, in the end where it really counts, you're his real dad." I blushed at that. It was like she could tell I was getting jealous of a cat. Crazy, I know.

We pulled up to the nursing home and a creepy looking guy came walking out. He smiled like a freak when he saw Bella, but then he glared at me.

"Cat lady!" he teased her. "I'm glad you're here, the natives are getting restless. Who's this guy?" he asked thumbing at me.

"This is my helper for the day, Edward. So, where do you want the cat box? We need to set that up before we release them and actually put them down in it first thing so they'll always know how to get back to it."

"Okay, I wish that worked with old dudes, but we can't all be cats," Creep said.

We both looked at him confused because he made no sense. I helped Bella set up the cat boxes; each of them had their own, and then we each took a cat and released it. I noticed that Blacky was following Bella as we walked to the community center. He looked around, taking in his new place and actually listened when a lady called for him to jump up on her lap. The two girl kitties, Ms. Mae and Penny, came in a few moments later. Bella introduced the cats, telling a little about Blacky. He was named that because of his color, and Penny was as well, but I was surprised to find that Ms. Mae, a white exotic looking cat, was called Ms. Mae because she had a mild case of OCD. Bella put down a bowl of cat food for Mae and the residents watched as Ms. Mae sorted the food by shapes and sizes before she ate it. She also explained that she was meticulous about cleaning her fur and would do it for hours and absolutely loved being brushed. She put a couple of cat brushes down in the community center for the residents to use. "She just needs a little extra love and attention, but I'm sure with all of you helping out, she'll feel right at home." She turned to me and waved for me to follow, and creepy guy followed as well.

"So, Cat Woman," he said with a wink, "Thanks for bringing the cats by and getting them settled."

"Thanks for taking them. I think this will end up being a good home for them."

"Yeah, well, feel free to come visit anytime," he said and slipped her a paper.

She just smiled politely, taking it and hopped in her car. I slid in the passenger side and looked over at her nervously. I wanted to ask her what the paper was. I was pretty sure it was his number. Was she going to call him? Was I missing my chance? Oh, my god, I had to do something fast! "Go out with me!" I practically yelled at her.

She looked at me confused. "Like on a date?"

Well, I was hoping more like being my steady girlfriend, but a date was a good start. "Yeah, yeah, a date. So, Bella, will you go out with me?"

Max climbed out of my pocket and snuggled up in her lap. "Sure, why not, we have to stay civil for the sake of the baby now, don't we?" she smirked as she scratched his chin.

I would take what I could get, "Yeah, great."

"So, when do you want to go out? Isn't winter break coming up soon?"

"Yeah, why don't we make a day of it?"

"Ooh, like a family outing, you, me, and Max?"

"Yeah, I think he would be heartbroken if I left him behind. I hope you don't mind."

"Having my baby along? Never."

BPOV

Edward asked me out on a real date. Not one to watch his sister and get back at Tyler, but one with just me and him. Well, and Max, but I missed Max so that was fine with me. I talked him into letting me drive over to his house for the date; that way my parents wouldn't feel the need to try and interrogate him and introduce more germs into the house. No, really, I just wanted to keep Edward to myself.

When I got to his house, it was a little after ten o'clock in the morning and it had just stopped snowing. Esme sent me to the back patio, which just made me smile. Of course my grin got even wider when I saw what was going on. Edward had Max wearing a kitty coat and Max was trying to pull off some little boots.

"Fine, but I'm telling you, the snow is cold. I'll keep them in my pocket if you want them back," he said making a big show of putting them in his pocket. Max watched him and then proudly pranced around in the snow for a few minutes before he came hopping back, shaking his paws in disgust. "See, I told you so," Edward said pulling out his hanky and drying off Max's little paws before he pulled out the boots again. He slipped them on his little paws and Max took a couple of steps and seemed pleased after that and went back to prancing around and playing in the snow.

"He looks so cute all dressed up," I said letting Edward know I was here.

"Yeah, well, it's cold outside and I don't want him getting sick."

"You're such a good daddy, Edward," I said sitting down next to him.

He just shrugged. "So, the first part of our date is to play in the snow."

"Oh, so you paid the weather man to make it snow?"

"No, Jack Frost, but you know I would do anything for you," he blushed suddenly.

I jumped up grabbing a handful of snow and tossed it at him. "Well, let's not let it go to waste then."

We spent the morning playing in the snow, and when we came in, Esme had hot cocoa and soup for us. Once we were dried out, Edward took me to his room. I had been in it before, but I acted impressed, as if I was seeing it for the first time. "So, what do you think? I mean it's nothing special or anything, but I mean, are you cool with watching a movie here?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun," I said kicking my feet up on his coffee table after I plopped on the couch. There was a squeaky noise and I laughed as I pulled out a few cat toys from under the cushion. Max quickly started gathering his toys and Edward laughed.

"You're not fooling anyone, Max. I know where all your hiding spots are," he teased.

Max hid the toys under Edward's bed and came out proudly acting like he had just secured a million dollars in a safe.

The rest of our date was perfect and Edward even did the yawn and stretch thing to put his arm around me. Of course, I totally snuggled into his side and nuzzled his neck. He wrapped his other arm around me and I decided to make a move. I kissed his neck and he turned his face and offered up his lips, kissing me softly. It was amazing. I ended up moaning into his mouth and pulling him closer as I wound my fingers into his hair. We started leaning to tip over on the couch, but a set of claws sank into both of us and made us jump apart. We had forgotten that Max was between us and he didn't like getting squished.

Max jumped up on Edward's bed, giving him the stink eye and I just laughed. Edward lifted his shirt exposing his claw marks and I touched them lightly. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Do you want me to check yours?"

I leaned back on the couch and lifted my shirt, exposing my belly. He ran his hands over the scratches, causing them to sting a little. "Do you have something to clean them up?" I asked.

"Let me check. I think there's a first aid kit in the bathroom across the hall." He disappeared and came back moments later. "I have some wipes that can disinfect it."

"Good," I said pulling my shirt up a little higher and he sat down on the edge of the couch. His hands were shaking a little as he dabbed lightly. I let out a hiss and he leaned down and kissed the scratches. Damn, he was hot. I ran my fingers in his hair, encouraging him to keep kissing. He eventually made it back up to my lips when there was a knock at the door.

Edward let out a sigh, dropping his head to my chest. "Yes?" he asked then sat up.

"Edward, can I have a word with you?" Carlisle said and then his eyes widened when he saw me lying on the couch. "Oh, I didn't realize you had company."

I glanced at the clock and knew it was time for me to get going. "It's fine, Dr. Cullen, I need to get going anyway."

"I'll walk you out," Edward said jumping up and helping me off the couch.

We made it to the booger mobile when he pinned me against the car and leaned in slowly. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I met him halfway and kissed him goodbye.

I had my first kiss, and not just any first kiss, but a full make out session. At least that was what I thought it was. Our kisses seemed to escalate again. I was guessing because we had good chemistry. When he finally pulled away, he smiled. "I want to see you again."

"You will," I said and slipped into my car.

He stepped back and I waved goodbye. This was the best date ever!

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	31. Chapter 31

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it. I just write it.

Chapter 31 Reality checks bounce

BPOV

Edward and I had gone on three dates now and had been kissing in his room at the end of each one. Things had been progressing nicely. We spent the dates talking and getting to know each other. I knew his middle name was Anthony and he was actually a junior, named after his father. I let him know my middle name was Marie, named after my grandmother. We talked easily, light and casual, but of nothing of consequence. I guess in the end, that should have been the first sign. I was too busy being consumed by his hands that I didn't see what was really coming. He touched my chest over my shirt last time and I was excited to see where we would end up going tonight.

It was the day after Christmas and I gave Edward a set of guitar strings because I heard they break easy and it was nice to have some on hand. I also got Max a t-shirt that said 'I love my daddy' on it. Edward loved it and put it on him right away.

Edward pulled out a box that was bigger than I expected. When I opened it, I gasped. It was a medical kit with stethoscope, thermometer, pen light, and an ear light, with a few boxes of covers for the ear light and thermometer.

"I know it's for humans, but you know, I figured it would work on pets, too."

"It's amazing. I can't believe you did this," I whispered in awe.

"So, um, is it okay? Do you like it?"

I set the box aside and jumped into his lap, kissing him immediately. "I love it. I really love it. Though now I wish I would have gotten you something better."

"No, I know you spend most of your money on taking care of the strays and paying for college. Besides, guitar strings are perfect. They just prove that you know me. Alice gave me a sweater, guess which present will actually get used," he said holding up a purple sweater with yellow diamonds.

I cringed a little. "Didn't you say she was going into fashion?"

"Oh yeah, this is the latest thing in France, definitely not my style, though."

"So what did Carlisle and Esme get you?"

"Carlisle gave me a gas card and a voucher for oil changes, and Esme gave me an iTunes cards and a mini fridge," he said pointing to the little black fridge that took the place of his night stand. "Want a drink?" he asked. I shrugged and he passed me a nice cool water bottle.

"Stocked with water bottles, huh?" I said raising my eyebrow at him.

It took him a minute, but it finally clicked and he started laughing. "I wish; I can't do that with Max around. I have to keep my junk away from his claws," he chuckled.

"What about me, do you want to keep it away from me?" I asked. He scooted closer to me on the couch.

"No, I don't ever want to be away from you," he said looking down at my lips. We started kissing again. This time he pinned me down on the couch and pushed between my legs. The seam of my jeans pressed against me in a wonderful way. He started grinding against me as we kissed and I was getting hot all over. My body was screaming for him.

I should have known things were going too well. There was a knock on the door calling us for dinner. We all sat around the table chatting quietly. Carlisle asked about my college plans and I told them about my online classes and how I would be finishing up my associates at the PA community college before I could transfer to UW, but again I had to take most of my classes online, hopefully only taking classes at UW when it was absolutely necessary just in case my mom to got sick because I would need to return home quickly.

"Edward and Alice will be going to NYU in for the fall semester. They're leaving in July so they can get settled there with their friend, Jasper," Esme said proudly.

I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. Edward was leaving. He never said a word about it, but I guess I should have expected it. There was no reason for him to stay. I plastered on a fake smile. "That's great. You must be very proud."

"More upset actually. I just got them and I'm losing them both already," Esme complained.

"We'll be home for the breaks, Aunt Esme," Alice said leaning over and hugging her. "It won't be that bad."

I looked over at Edward to see he was staring hard at his plate. He had yet to look at me since his aunt dropped the bomb. The bomb that he should have detonated himself but didn't.

EPOV

I wanted to strangle and kiss Carlisle when he had interrupted me. Once Bella was gone, he let me know that he was able to get the gift I wanted for her. He thought it was wonderful she was going into the medical field, even if it was just the animal one.

Bella and I spent the next several days together. I helped her with her animals and she let me take her to my place so I could kiss her. I never asked to go into her house because I knew I couldn't. No one was able to go in except the Chief and Bella. It didn't bother me at all. I did, however, want to sneak back to her house every evening after she left so I could watch her strip through the window and head for the shower before going into the main part of her house, but I restrained myself. It didn't mean I wasn't plotting ways for me to be there, though.

Things were getting exciting between us. She was so easy to talk to and it made it easy to forget that my plans would be pulling me away from her. Her lips were very distracting and I finally was able to get my hands on her beautiful breasts. She was still wearing her shirt, but who cared. They were so soft and warm. She made little mewing noises when my fingers found the tips through her shirt. It was so hot. I wanted to get my hands inside her shirt. In fact, that was my plan before we were interrupted. It was like Esme and Carlisle had little alarms that went off anytime Bella and I got close to each other. It was driving me nuts.

The day after Christmas, we exchanged gifts and she loved what I gave her. What she didn't know was I absolutely adored the strings she gave me. She knew me so much better than my family. They all gave me practical gifts, where she gave me something I wanted. It was perfect, she was perfect. I just didn't know how to tell her.

Of course, reality came crashing down on us at dinner. Esme talked about me leaving and I could see how hurt Bella was. I hadn't told her of my plans, but then she hadn't asked, either. I knew I couldn't ask her to come with me. She had to stay close to her mom and I understood that. I just hoped she would be willing to make it work while we were apart.

After dinner, things went downhill fast. She picked up her coat from my bed and gave me a tight smile. "I have to go," she said.

I knew she really didn't. "Bella," I called to her but she just walked faster. I grabbed her arm when she made it to her car so I could stop her. "Please, listen to me."

She shook her head. I didn't miss the tears that were forming in her eyes. "It's fine, Edward. I know we're just friends. I'll see you around," she said and slipped away from me.

I tried calling her several times for the next week but she never took my call. Finally, I just broke down and went over there. She had forgotten her present and I wasn't going to let her not take it. I found her in the shed sitting with a couple kitties in her lap. I came in unannounced carrying the box with her gift. "You forgot these," I said.

She didn't say anything.

"I'm not letting you refuse it because I'm sure the patients you have would benefit from them. I know you won't let your pride hurt them."

She looked up at me and glared. "Pride? You think it was pride that had me running out of your house?"

Okay, she was pissed. I just shrugged timidly and took a step back.

"You're such a pompous asshole. Get out," she sneered at me. God, even her sneer was beautiful.

"Bella, please let me explain," I begged.

"No need, Edward. We were just friend…with benefits," she choked on the last part. "I'm revoking your benefits."

"Bella, it wasn't like that at all."

She shook her head at me. "It's fine, Edward. I'm just glad we stopped before I did anything I would regret." She took a deep breath. "We're still friends, Edward. I just need time." She looked up at me and I could see the damage I had done.

"Okay," I whispered. That was it, that was all she would give me, and I would take what I could get. Maybe when I came home for breaks, she would see that it could work between us. That I wanted to make it work between us.

That I wanted her.

A/N Thanks for reading please Review. I will be out of town so updates will probably only come every other day. Sorry!


	32. Chapter 32

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 32 Less filing, tastes great

Epov

I hadn't seen or heard from Bella since Christmas break. I hoped to see her on New Year's, but apparently, people had let off some fireworks early, startling and scaring several animals. She said she was too busy caring for stray animals and finding owners for the others.

I tried not to take it personally, but then she gave Alice Max's medicine. He joined me in the fight against Bella ignoring us by being extra difficult and absolutely refusing to take it. I finally just scooped him up and took him over to her, ignoring her cold shoulder and whined, "You've got to help me. He won't take it from me, look!" I said and offered the medicated meat flavored chunk to Max who promptly swatted it out my hand and pranced away. "He won't take it from me."

She let out a sign and picked up the medicated cube. "Come here, baby boy," she said.

She sat down and Max climbed into her lap. "Take it, Max, it's good for you," she whispered in his ear looking down at him with sweet adoring eyes and he took it from her no problem.

I looked at her shocked. "Why won't he take it from me?" I asked exasperated.

She shrugged and went back to writing in one of her files. "Maybe he just likes mommy best."

"Well, mommy needs to not be so cold to daddy."

"Well, daddy should have told mommy he was leaving her and not get her hopes up leading her on."

"I wasn't leading you on."

"Weren't you?"

"No, I'll be back for all the school breaks. You know Esme would have a cow if I wasn't. Bella, I wasn't leaving you. I mean we'll be apart, but it wouldn't be like it's the first long distance relationship in history."

"Relationship?"

This was it; it was my chance to fix it. "Yeah, Bella, I want to be more than friends."

She looked up at me with watery eyes. "Really?"

I stepped forward pulling her into my arms. "Yes, really."

BPOV

Edward said he wanted to be in a relationship. He wanted to try a long distance relationship and I knew I could never ask him to stay. I would go away to college if I had the money and the chance. I didn't know why I didn't see it sooner. I guess I just thought he would go to UW and still be close, but New York was on the other side of the country. I didn't know if we could make it work, but I definitely thought we should give it a try.

Valentine's Day was only two weeks away and it would be my first time ever having a boyfriend. I asked for it off and was thrilled when Dr. Gartner didn't have a problem with it. I talked to my mom about what I should do for Edward, after I confessed to her that we were dating.

She squealed and clapped excited. "Tell me everything, baby."

I told her as much as I was willing to admit to my mother. I did tell her that we kissed. She smiled so wide and we decided it was best not to tell dad about it. He liked Edward and we wanted to keep it that way.

EPOV

Valentine's Day. I was freaking out because Valentine's Day was coming up and I wanted to prove to Bella that I really meant it when I said I wanted to do the long distance thing with her. Everything I thought of just seemed so generic. I wanted to do something special for her.

In the end I gave her a calendar. One that I had the exact copy of. It had all the breaks marked and they were called 'Bella breaks', and on the weekends I wrote 'Bella dates'.

She started crying and I was happy when she hugged me, letting me know that she liked it. I was worried she wouldn't.

I was so relieved that she was willing to try and make it work. I hated that I was leaving her, but her mother's health really limited her ability to leave Forks at all. I wished she could come to New York with me, solely for selfish reasons, but, hey, they had pets in New York, too, didn't they?

Bella surprised me when she gave me a present. She blushed and said she felt stupid. "It isn't much. You know what, it was a stupid idea."

"No no," I said pulling the package away. It was picture, but not just any picture; it was one of us with Max. From the angle, her mother must have taken it from the house. I loved it. We looked so happy, like a perfect moment trapped in the frame. I didn't want to look away. "It's perfect," I said and finally looked up to see my girl biting her lip nervously. I pulled it free with my thumb and kissed her softly.

"You're not just saying that?"

"No, I love it. This is the perfect family picture," I said pulling her down on the porch steps to sit with me. "You're amazingly beautiful and it'll always remind me of how happy you make me," I said pointing to my smile in the picture. "Besides, our boy is just too cute for words."

She leaned into my side snuggling. "I'm glad you liked it. I thought this way it would help you not miss me so much."

"Oh, I'll miss you, the same if not more. This picture just reminds me of what I'm missing."

I saw her eyes dart to my lips and I took the hint, leaning in and kissing her again. I would never pass up a chance to taste her lips.

BPOV

Gone too fast. That was all I could think. He was gone way too fast. Summer went in a blink and Edward was gone before the end of it so he could set up his place with Jasper and Alice.

Edward called me daily. I was sure his phone bill would be too high, but he assured me he had unlimited talk time and planned to get his money's worth.

We talked about our professors and of Max. There were no pets allowed in the dorm for this first year of college and he was required to live there. It was driving him nuts, but I would visit with Max at least monthly to give him his medicine and he was always happy to see me.

When the time for Thanksgiving came, I was a nervous wreck and practically leaped on him. We had yet to progress our physical relationship beyond light touching over our clothes, but our conversations would sometimes get heated over the phone.

Max literally climbed up Edward's leg demanding his attention. When Max got to the family jewels, he had definitely grabbed Edward's attention. Lucky for Max, Edward missed him like crazy and found Max's impatience endearing.

EPOV

I was back in Fork, and though I loved Bella, I really wished I could convince her to come back with me to New York. Not just because I loved her, but because I loved life there as well.

I finally decided to broach the subject after Thanksgiving dinner when I drove her home.

"Do you ever see yourself leaving Forks, Bella?"

"No."

"Why not?" I was about to argue with her when she put her hand up stopping me.

"Edward, I can't leave my mom. She needs me. I have to stay here. It isn't that I don't want to go, but if I did and something happened to my mom, I would never forgive myself."

I just nodded in acceptance, hating that she was stuck in Forks with no chance of escape.

"Do you ever plan on moving back here?"

Truth was I didn't. It was never in the plan to come back to Forks, but to move on with Jasper and my plan, and we couldn't do it in Forks, Washington.

I must not have answered fast enough, but the truth was I couldn't come up with a good answer to give her.

"You weren't," she said sadly and twisted her fingers.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I made that plan before we were really together. I'm sure there's a way to modify it. Maybe I could telecommute or something." I knew that it would never be possible, but I thought I would throw it out there in a last ditch effort.

She smiled sadly at me. "It's okay, Edward, I kind of always knew that I would end up alone." She leaned in and kissed my cheek softly. "It was nice to have you while I could." She slipped out of my car and hurried to the back gate so she could go into her back door and clean up before she entered the house. I had to tell her that I still wanted her, that we would find a way to make it work. I didn't want it to be over.

When I came to her back porch, I saw her stripping down slowly. When I saw her wiping her face with her shirt, I knew it was because she was crying. I couldn't stand it any longer. I pushed in the door and grabbed her, wrapping my arms around her pulling her tight against my body, hoping she could feel that I needed her with my very being. I needed to stay with her and I would find a way to do it, somehow.

A/N Thanks for reading please review.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 On the run

BPOV

I couldn't keep Edward from his dream. He had a plan and I wouldn't hold him back. My whole person ached as I walked away from him. I felt my very soul was collapsing in on itself as I undressed. I was wiping my face free from snot and tears when I heard the back door open.

I knew immediately it was him. Edward pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. "This isn't over," he said with conviction. "We're going to figure this out. I want you in my life, Bella." His warm hands soothed my tense back and caused my skin to tingle.

He kissed my neck and then my cheek, making his way to my lips. I took what I could get. What I could keep of him, because I wanted to keep him all, but I knew it wasn't fair to hold him back. I would take what he would offer and give myself to him in return.

EPOV

She let me hold her and kissed me in return. I was worried I had overstepped my boundaries by coming into her house unannounced, but I felt her fingertips sliding under my shirt. She started tugging it and I freaked out a little, wondering where Chief Swan was with his gun. I definitely didn't want him to catch me making out with his topless daughter in his house.

I finally got up the nerve to ask and she snickered at me. "Mom is in the hospital again. She's doing good, but once again, I'm all alone." The last words hung heavy in the air. I felt so hot and my body was begging me to attack her, but I refused to do anything to upset her more. Her next words were just down right shocking.

"Shower with me."

I stood there gapping at her like a codfish for a few minutes, watching her undress the rest of the way. She turned around and pulled my shirt off me. I was completely useless and didn't help her because I was too distracted by her breasts. They were so perfect and perky. I had heard about licking breasts and I wanted to see what they tasted like.

Of course, my focus completely changed as soon as she started to undo my pants. She pulled them down and smiled at me, giving me a wink when she pinched my butt. I stood in just my boxers and my dick was doing his best to get her attention. I was two seconds away from covering it with my hands and hoped she didn't notice I was about to poke her in the eye.

Yes, the eye. She pulled my pants down and went down on her knees. My chest was heaving I was breathing so hard. She undid my shoes and pulled them off with my socks. "I should have taken these off first," she said as she worked around the jeans that were doubling as shackles at the moment.

I wanted to say something, anything, but my tongue was out of commission; wait, no it wasn't. I kept licking my lips in anticipation of tasting any part of her. I wanted to kiss and lick her all over. I wanted to show her how beautiful and cherished she was, how amazing she was all over.

When she finally tugged on my boxers, they caught on my dick and I groaned. She giggled and stood up. "They seem to be caught on something," she said coyly. "I wonder what it is. It seems rather big. Do you mind if I take a look?" she asked.

I wanted her to look and let her know that. She pulled the waist of my boxers out and peeked down into them. Her head leaned on my chest and her hair tickled my body, sending tingling shocks all through me. "Look, he's waving hello," she said when I twitched at her proximity.

"He's very friendly," I was finally able to get out and wanted to kick myself for sounding like such a horny jerk.

"Hmm, would he like to shake hands then and get properly introduced?" she asked and I wasn't sure if she was joking, but I introduced her all the same.

"Richard, this is Bella, Bella, this is Richard, but you can call him Dick for short."

"There's nothing short about him," she smiled but then walked away. I guess there was to be no shaking going on.

She turned back to me. "Come on, shower's in here. We have to clean up before you can come into the house."

I followed after her, my eyes never leaving her as I watched her turn the water on and set out the towels and soap. She finally stepped under the spray of the water and I was mesmerized by the water dribbling down her body. She soaped up her hair and then closed her eyes, rinsing it off. With her eyes closed, I felt braver and stepped into the shower with her. That was a huge mistake because my body felt magnetized. I was so drawn to her that I ended up holding her in my arms as she rinsed her hair out. I started kissing her neck and helped work the soap out of her hair while holding her mouth against mine. Her body felt warm, slick, and amazing against mine.

We finished rinsing her hair and then she pushed me back a step. I was worried I had upset her, but then she took a hand full of soap and started washing my body. She did her best, getting every inch of me, only ignoring where I wanted her most. Finally, she soaped up our friend, Richard, and I groaned, pulling her to me and kissing her again deeply. She only washed me lightly and then rinsed me off.

I was still panting with my eyes closed when I felt her leave the shower. She handed me a towel and told me to follow her. I did as she said because at this point I would follow her off a damn cliff. She led me up to her bedroom. I shut the door behind us and crossed the room. Dropping my towel, I pulled her into my arms, kissing her roughly because my body was on fire and I was seriously exploding from the inside out.

She surprised me by pushing me back to her bed, straddling my hips and rubbing against me as we kissed. I had never been this close to a girl and it felt amazing. Her warm wet body was sliding perfectly against mine. We had ground against each other before with clothes on, but this was insane.

My hands found her breasts and I loved the way she responded to my touch. I loved the way she responded to me. I nudged her onto her back and attacked her breasts, licking and kissing her while listening to her body respond to me. She sounded so beautiful. I wanted her so badly.

She must have been reading my mind. "I want you," she whispered and I attacked her mouth again, pressing between her thighs.

"What do you want? Tell me, please tell me. I'll give you anything," I panted.

She smiled up at me and pulled me down for a kiss. "I want you to be my first."

"I want you to be my first, too. I want to be with you forever, Bella. I swear we'll figure out a way," I reassured her. This would not be a fuck and run.

She smiled at me sadly and kissed me again. This one was filled with her heart and warmed my very soul. I loved her. I knew I did for sure, and at that very moment I knew she loved me. She shifted her hips and I was just on the verge of entering her. Her legs wrapped around me pressing me forward, and I didn't have the will to deny her anything. She would always hold all of me whether she knew it or not.

I moved forward slowly. She was so tight and slick. Her body hugged me tightly, pulling me deeper. She felt as if she was made for me. I think maybe she was because for me, she was it. There would never be anyone else but her. I felt her body cringe and she gasped as I took her virginity and I gave her mine. It was amazing, awkward, and beautiful. I came fast, but she let me hold her tightly, letting me know it was okay. She just felt so good.

My phone started to ring and I saw it was Esme and the time that was on it. "She just misses me," I whispered.

"We all do," she said kissing my nose and it made me smile.

"I love you," I said softly.

"I know, and I love you, too," she said shifting in my arms, kissing me again

"I wish I could stay," I said, never wanting to leave her.

"I wish you could stay, too, but family calls," she said and I knew she understood.

The next day I went back to her house and she met me on the back porch. "How is your mother doing?" I asked her.

"The usual, I already donated for her but it still takes a while for her body to fully respond."

"When are you expecting her home?" I asked and she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Looking for round two, Mr. Cullen?"

I pulled her into my arms kissing her again. I loved that she was mine. She was all mine and I was hers. It didn't take much for us to end up back in her room. I was determined to make it better for her today.

I had spent most the night trying to find ways that we could be together. In the end, I hadn't come up with anything, but I thought if I talked to Jasper, maybe we could come up with something together.

We lay cuddling after round two. She was smiling and panting still. I was pretty sure I gave her an orgasm. She really seemed to enjoy it this time around.

"I'm going to find a way for you to come to New York with me," I told her.

"Don't. I can't leave my mom, you know that," she said sounding a little annoyed.

"I'll find a way to make it happen, okay."

"Stop trying to get my hopes up, Edward, it's just cruel. You know how much I want to, but we just can't be together. I'm stuck here and you have a life you need to get back to living, but I'll always be here waiting for you."

It felt like she had ripped my chest open. "We are together, Bella," I argued.

"We are now, but in the end I understand that we really can't be. I can't expect you to wait around for me until you get a free moment to come back here. I won't be the one holding you back."

"You're not holding me back!"

"Don't make this harder than it already is, Edward. I love you. I wish my life was different and that I wasn't needed here in Forks, but leaving to live with you could literally cost my mother her life."

I felt my eyes burning. I didn't realize I was crying until she brushed my tears away, ignoring her own running down her face. "At least you'll always know where to find me," she said and kissed me before I could argue with her. "Thank you, Edward, for loving me. I'm going to miss you," she said and pulled me up off her bed and led me to the door. "Thank you for giving me something I thought I would never have," she said and I wished she would stop talking like it was the end, like we were over because we couldn't be together right now.

"We're not over, Bella."

She frowned. "Edward, you've got to live your life, not waste it by holding out for me. I understand and I'm doing my best to accept it, honey, just let it be."

"Bella, stop this."

"NO!" she snapped. "It's over, Edward. You're going back to New York, and waiting around to see each other every few months is ridiculous! It wouldn't be for just a short time, it would be for the rest of my mother's life, there's no end to this. It isn't going to work! You know that as well as I do! Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

I stomped out pissed. I had never heard of a girl fucking and running, but that was exactly what was happening, damn it, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Bpov

I had to be certifiably insane. It was Edward's last day in town and I had broken up with him. I was so stupid. I didn't understand why I did it now. Okay, maybe I did. I could never leave Forks, and I knew he was off to bigger and brighter things. There was no way I would tie him down to Forks, causing him to deviate from his dream.

I knew he had plans and there were others counting on him. I couldn't be the one to mess that up for him. I may be trapped, but Edward would have a life. He had already gotten out of Forks. I would not pull him back in.

I threw myself into my work, but I couldn't stop myself from looking at the calendar Edward had given me with his winter break clearly marked. He would be in town any day now and I hated that I was dying to see him. Edward had probably moved on already. He was handsome enough to find a new girl easily. That thought crushed me. I wanted him to be just as sad and lonely as me.

What the hell had I done?


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 Frozen soul

EPOV

Life sucked in New York without a Bella vacation to look forward to. It made everything I was doing feel pointless, especially since she was the catalyst that got me and Jasper turned on to the whole law enforcement thing. We planned on using our crazy ideas to trap and convict known criminals that were too smooth to get caught. When we did the research, it was easy to find a lot of alleged criminals, but in the end, they all got off. Jasper and I planned to rectify that.

Thankfully, when Jasper went home to Texas for Thanksgiving and told his parents the whole plan, they were proud of him. I was relieved because I knew he was really stressed that his parents wouldn't support his decision. Of course, he still had to join the weekend warriors, aka the National Guard. They wanted him to be able to volunteer if he felt compelled to.

He came back not just relieved but excited for our future. Alice was all over him, hugging him and jumping up and down. He swung her around in a circle and kissed the top of her head. I knew it should have annoyed me more that he was celebrating with my little sister, but my heart wasn't in it to fight with them. I felt broken.

I pushed through my classes and hid in my homework. Alice called me antisocial but I didn't see a point in socializing anymore because the person I wanted to socialize with didn't want to be with me anymore. I tried to understand why it happened. I knew what she meant. We were stuck on different coasts and I would never be able to do what we had planned in the small innocent town of Forks. There were no major criminals to take down.

Her being right didn't stop me from missing her. We had spent countless hours talking on the phone and over the internet. I had felt closer to her than I did anyone else. Even my sister. I also knew Bella better than she realized and I should have seen this coming. For some reason, she always saw herself as a burden, like she wasn't worthy of a life. I knew she needed to be close to her mother, but even so, I knew her mother would not be happy with the way she was living her life. I wanted to point it out but it wasn't my place and I didn't want the already weak Renee to get worse by upsetting her.

Don't get me wrong; I wasn't giving up on Bella and I being together, I just hadn't figured out a way yet. Unfortunately, law enforcement didn't pay that well and open ended tickets were expensive. We would basically have to keep one for when her mother needed her, and she would need to find a job she would be able to keep, even if she had to leave at a moment's notice. In the end, I knew Bella would be too worried about her mother to be happy with me in New York.

It was Christmas break and I wasn't going back to Forks just yet. I needed to find the solution before I returned. There was no way I could handle facing Bella when she wasn't mine. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to control myself and I didn't want to fight with her over something she really didn't have control over. She had to stay and be there to donate for her mother. Renee's life depended on Bella. There was just no way around it.

"You're coming with us," Alice spoke breaking me out of my brooding.

"What?"

"Esme is freaking out as it is. She can't get a flight to New York because of the weather. Jasper and I are driving south and then catching a plane. You're coming with us. Esme and Carlisle will be meeting us in Texas."

I shook my head, unsure how things had escalated so quickly between Jasper and Alice. I was sure they were just friends, but just two nights ago I caught them kissing and punched Jasper in the face. Being the southern gentleman he was, he took it in stride and told me he had proposed to Alice. I was floored when my baby sister held up her hand, sporting a ring. "Isn't it beautiful? It was his grandmother's. He picked it up over Thanksgiving," she practically squealed at me.

I looked at Jasper shocked. "Thanksgiving?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I knew that night when I first met her, boss. I was just bidding my time until she saw it, too. Thank heavens it didn't take long. I didn't know how much longer I could handle her not being mine," he said pulling my sister into his arms. I stopped myself from pulling her away from him because she seemed so happy. I just turned and walked out, not wanting to be around a happy couple. It wasn't fair that they got to be together and I didn't get to be with Bella. It wasn't their fault, though, so I didn't want to take it out on them.

"Edward!" Alice yelled after me. I stopped in the hall and she slammed into my back. "You're coming whether you like it or not and you'd better act happy about it when we announce it to his family."

I turned and hugged my little sister. "I am happy for you, Alice." Really, on some level I was happy that she could have what I couldn't.

"Good, now start acting like it because we're going to be staying with Jasper's family for the holidays."

Christmas sucked. I asked Esme about Max and learned that Bella was babysitting our boy. That just rubbed salt into my open wound. My aunt and uncle were not aware that I was no longer Bella's boyfriend, but I was glad she was the one caring for Max and not some stranger. I knew he was in good hands with Bella, and apparently she would be collecting the newspapers and mail for Carlisle and Esme as well. Basically, she was housesitting and I was absolutely miserable.

The Whitlock's were very kind welcoming people and once they caught wind that I was single, they introduced me to their very sexually aggressive niece, Gianna. I spent the rest of the trip too busy avoiding her advances to mope about Bella.

I was relieved when I finally made it home. That was until the wedding madness began. Alice was on the phone nonstop with Esme and Jasper's mom, Charlotte. It was the beginning of February that Alice came running into my room squealing with excitement. "Esme and Carlisle are moving out!"

"Moving out?" I asked confused.

"They're moving out here to New York! Esme wants to be closer to us, and since we plan on settling here for a few more years, they'll be moving to be closer to us!"

Alice was jumping around all excited, but all I could think of was Bella. They couldn't move, how was I supposed to fix things between me and Bella if I didn't have a reason to go back to there?

"Why don't you look excited?" Alice pouted.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine." I had to find a way and fix this fast.

"Well good, I'm glad you think it's 'fine' because we're going to Forks over spring break to help them pack up and move here."

Spring break came too fast and word had gotten back to the Whitlock's that we were going to help move Esme and Carlisle to New York, and so they sent Jasper's brother, Peter, and of course Gianna, their horny niece, to come help us pack up. The only good thing about this was I would get to see Max. He would finally be moving closer to me, and once Alice and Jasper were married, it was decided that I would move back in with Esme and Carlisle. I would get to keep my boy.

BPOV

I house sat for the Cullen's, taking care of Max and the mail and stuff. I recognized I had a problem when I woke up for the third time in Edward's old bed. I missed him so much. He smelled so good and when I lay in his bed, it was almost as if he were laying there with me. I hated that I fell in love with him and almost wished that I had never known love so that I wouldn't know what I was missing. I would have never hurt like this, never ached for another if I had never met him. I would have been content, not happy, but content, living with my parents, taking care of my mom. That was the plan, but that had been all blown to hell by Edward Cullen and I was nothing but miserable because I constantly wished for him to return and love me again.

It wasn't long after their return that Esme told me that she and Carlisle were looking into moving to New York to be closer to the kids. She came to see me about finding a new vet where they were moving and getting a supply of medicine for little Max. I was going to miss my boy. I had become way too attached to Max and since our breakup, I had become an over emotional mess. Needless to say, I was not handling it well. Maybe somehow, some way, we could find a way to be friends, but even the thought of just being friends hurt.

Why the hell did I have to fall in love with him?


	35. Chapter 35

SM owns it, I own Dollybigmomma because she rocks my shit

She also said this needs a tissue warning. Sorry, folks.

Chapter 35 Going mad

EPOV

I was going nuts. I was in town and hadn't seen Bella yet. My fidgeting must have been obvious because Esme just rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven sakes, just go," she said and waved me off. I took off out to my car like a bat out of hell. I wasn't fast enough, though, because Gianna just happened to jump into the passenger seat. Just great.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"None of your business. Shouldn't you be helping them pack?"

"Shouldn't you?" she asked.

I wanted to strangle her for slowing me down, but I didn't want to take the time. "Just keep out of shit and keep your mouth shut. Better yet, wait in the car," I said as I pulled up to the clinic. I was sure Bella was there. I couldn't imagine her changing her schedule.

I was right. I burst into the office as she was writing something in a file. God, she was gorgeous. Time was only enhancing her beauty and it made my body warm to see her. It was then that I noticed little Max sitting next to her on the desk. Esme had mentioned she was watching him while we packed so he didn't get caught in something or hurt.

"Bella!" I said her name with relief. It felt like I hadn't been able to breathe for so long.

"Hey, Edward. Have you come to see your son? He's been missing his daddy," she said. Max jumped up to the divider between us and I picked him up smoothly.

"I'm glad he has his mommy to look after him."

"You have a kid?" Gianna shouted from behind me.

I turned and looked at her shocked. "I told you to wait in the car!"

"You have a kid!" she said pointing accusingly at me.

I looked at Bella, wondering if she would fix this or not. She just crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't tell your new girlfriend about Max?"

"Oh, my god! I'm telling Aunt Charlotte! There's no way she'll let Jazzy marry into a messed up family like yours!" she said and stormed out. I failed to see how any of this was relevant, but knowing Gianna, by the time she got done, it would be blown out of proportion into some outlandish lie about my family and I couldn't let this effect Alice.

"I have to go talk to her."

Bella smirked. "You do that," she said and turned away coldly.

"I'm not done with you!" I shouted after her.

"Yes, you are, have fun with your new toy," she said shaking her head and walked out.

Fucking hell, could this get anymore messed up?

"My cat is named Max," I shouted after Gianna.

"You named a cat after your kid? That's messed up, Edward."

"I don't have a kid!" God, she was an idiot.

"Then why would she say that your son was missing you?"

"Oh, fuck it. Yes, I have kid named Max then, you happy? It has nothing to do with Alice, so leave her and Jazz alone! Just take my car and get the fuck out of here already!" I said tossing her my keys.

I heard a noise coming from down the alley and went to investigate. I didn't want Bella sneaking away before I could talk to her. It looked like she had just taken out some trash, as the back door was not all the way closed yet. I ran and grabbed it before it could lock me out. I slipped in and looked around. There were several kennels, most were empty, but the few that were there had little animals in them. I saw Bella at the far end.

"I don't know why I let him get to me, George. I mean we were just kids when we met. It never lasts. I guess I'm just hurt that he moved on so fast. I know I can't have him, but does he have to bring his latest whore here to my place of business?" She leaned her head on the cage and I wasn't surprised when a tongue came through the bars and licked her face. "Thanks, George. You're a sweetheart. I wish I could take you home with me, too." She pushed a couple of fingers through the bars scratching 'George'.

I guess Max had had enough with me staring at his mommy because he decided to give me a good clawing and jumped from my arms. I hissed in pain, but it was enough to get Bella's attention. Max sauntered around the place like he owned it and Bella did nothing to stop him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"We have nothing to talk about. I'm sure your girlfriend is wondering where you are."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Sorry, I didn't know you having a cat was a deal breaker for her. I'll keep my mouth shut next time."

"Damn it, Bella," I said and grabbed her arm.

George jumped to the front of his cage when I touched her and growled viciously, baring his teeth at me.

"Let go before I let him out."

I didn't move and the dog barked and snapped.

"He's a pit bull, Edward, he'll take your arm off if you don't let go of mine," she said so coldly.

I dropped my hand. "Bella, please."

"What is it? I said we could still be friends." She gave me a fake smile. "See, this is me being your friend. Now go visit with your boy. I know Max has been missing you," she said and started walking out.

"What the hell?"

She turned around looking at me furiously. "What do you want from me, Edward? Do you want me to be happy for you. Fine." She smiled widely. "I'm so happy you found a stupid blonde to fuck," she said and stormed out.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Bella! Gianna is just a friend."

"Right, that's why she went ballistic thinking you had a kid."

"Why didn't you correct her?" I asked.

"Why didn't you?" she glared. "I heard you out front fighting with her. She thinks you have a kid named Max and a cat named after him as well. Real winner you picked there, Edward."

"I didn't pick her! Why won't you fucking listen to me?" I shouted at her and the animals erupted in a chorus of protective anger. "She's nothing to me! Goddamn it, Bella, why can you see that I only want you?" I said grabbing her. She fought me at first, but she finally gave in to me when I kissed her, holding her tightly against me. She was mine and I was claiming her. Thank god she was doing the same to me. There was nothing sweet and gentle about what we were doing; we were rough and angry and full of need. I knew I was gripping her too hard. I was sure I left bruises, but I needed to hold her tight. I needed to feel her in my hands, in my arms. I needed to be deep inside her now and I didn't give a fuck who or what was watching me take her.

I lifted her hips, setting her on the edge of the exam table. I pressed between her legs, grinding hard into her and she pushed back, moaning into my mouth. I completely lost it. I stripped her down and was in her before my next breath. My body let out a sigh of relief. I was home, finally. God, I had to find a way to get her to New York with me. I didn't know how much longer I could stand to be apart. I was slowly going mad being away from her.

She pulled my hair roughly and clawed my back. It all just spurred me to move faster. When she bit my neck, I lost it and she followed. I held her tightly against me, but then I noticed she was shaking slightly. I looked down to see she was crying.

"Bella, baby, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been rough like that," I said kissing the top of her head, squeezing her in my arms. I didn't want to let her go.

She sniffled and shoved me back. I stood shocked as she picked up her clothes, dressing stiffly. "You should go; your family is probably missing you."

"Bella…"

She looked at me with cold eyes. "Go, Edward, you got your quick fuck."

"Stop it! You know that's not what this was. I want to be with you, Bella."

"We've already established that it's not possible," she snapped. "So why are you here?"

"Bella…"

"Why do you take such pleasure in hurting me, Edward?" she asked and when the words left her mouth, she looked so broken. "You know I can't leave," she whispered and shook her head. "Please, just go."

I felt like an ass. I hadn't found a way to take her home with me and she knew it. She was stuck here and me there. I wiped the tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

She cut me off, shaking her head. "It's okay, I miss you, too," she sniffled. "I think it would be best if we just cut things off altogether, though."

"Bella…"

She covered my mouth stopping me.

"We need to get on with our lives. I don't want to be holding you back. You should be free to chase all the girls in New York."

"I don't want to."

"You will." She let out a sigh. "Just do me a favor and take good care of my boy for me," she said looking over at Max.

"He'll always be our boy, Bella." And he would.

She smiled sadly at me. She leaned up and kissed my lips softly and I couldn't help but deepen it. She finally pulled away. "Have a good life, Edward."

"I'll be back once I figure out a way for you to come live out there with me, Bella."

She sighed and shook her head sadly. "You know my life has to be here. Goodbye, Edward." She kissed and patted my cheek before seeing me out.

I was leaving Bella Swan again, and I hated myself for it.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! More to come soon. I promise it will have a happy ending!**


	36. Chapter 36

SM owns it and Dollybigmomma is mine! Oh yeah I meant Dollybigmomma is my beta. ;P Love her!

Chapter 36 Gone wrong

BPOV

Since that day at the clinic, I had been a complete mess. I had been doing everything wrong and making stupid, simple mistakes. I missed Edward and hated myself for once again putting my reality foot down and letting him go. Damn it, why did I have to be so sensible?

My mother noticed my distracted behavior, and so I finally broke down and told her everything that had happened between us, and that I missed Edward, but that we couldn't be together. I think it bothered my mother that she was the thing holding me back. It was later that week that she told me she had registered me for classes at UW.

"You'll only be three hours away, Bella. You need to have a life, too. We'll be just fine without you, sweetheart," she promised and I was optimistic. I should have known better.

Good things didn't happen to Bella Swan.

My mistakes had finally caught up to me. My mother was sick again. I was sure it was because I had forgotten to disinfect something. I was pissed that Edward had been gone for almost two months now and I was still a mess. My distractedness had made me too sloppy.

"I'll be fine," my mother said patting my dad's cheek as he carried her to the car. It wasn't the first time she had said those words, but it would be the last.

I made it down to the hospital and let them run the tests they always did to make sure I was able to donate. I went to my mom's room and sat with her while she slept so my dad could go eat. The doctor looked distraught when he found me. "Ms. Swan, a word?" My mother stirred, but I knew he was talking to me.

"Yes, are you ready for me to donate?" I asked wondering why a nurse hadn't come for me yet.

"That's the thing, Ms. Swan, you can't donate."

"What? What do you mean? I always donate," I snapped panicked.

"You can't donate while you're pregnant."

"Pregnant?" I said shocked. He had to be wrong. "But I'm not."

"We have your results right here. You are indeed pregnant."

"That can't be right," I said confused.

"I'm sorry, but if you donate now, you could very well lose your baby."

There had to be some kind of mistake with their testing. Wouldn't I know if I were pregnant? I had to do this regardless or my mother would die.

"It'll be fine. It's fine, just let me donate for my mother."

"No!" my mother said sternly. We both looked at her shocked, unaware she had been awake and listening.

"Mom, I have to. You need me to or…"

She put her hand against the plastic between us so I would take hers. "Bella, you've been given a gift and you need to protect this baby. If it's the last thing you do for me, so be it, but I will not be the one to kill my grandchild. I refuse to be the one to rob you of the joy of having a baby." She pressed her hand to my cheek and I found comfort in the feel of the plastic between us. I knew it was clean, I knew she was safe in there.

"But, Mom..."

"No, Bella. You're having a baby, this is a great thing. I'm so happy for you."

I shook my head no. "I need to donate." I turned to the doctor. "Tell her, tell her it's okay that I donate."

"You can, but there's a higher risk that you'll miscarry. There are always risks with that, too, but you'll most likely be fine and able to conceive at another time."

"See, Mom, see, he said I could."

She shook her head. "When will you see Edward again, Bella? I know you pushed him away because of me. I've been holding you back from being truly happy, honey, and I refuse to do it anymore."

"Mom, no!" I cried.

"What's going on in here?" my dad asked confused as he walked in.

"We're going to be grandparents, Charlie," my mother spoke with excitement.

My dad looked at me shocked, his eyes traveling up and down my body as if looking for some proof.

"No, no, I'm donating," I insisted.

"I refuse to take anything you give me, Bella. I can do that can't I?" she asked the doctor, who was rubbing the back of his neck.

"She can," he said defeated.

"No, no, Daddy, tell her she has to take it. Tell her," I pleaded and my father looked at my mother lost.

"She can't donate, Charlie. She might lose the baby. I'll not have it. She's going to have my grandbaby and you're going to help her," she said pointing at him. He looked so lost but nodded okay.

The doctor went over the other treatment options; we knew what they were already. We also knew they weren't effective. My mother had already tried them all before she allowed me to donate to her for the first time at the age of nine. I knew it upset my mother to take from me, but I loved that I was able to help her. I hated that she was taking that from me now.

Just like we expected, she got worse. She was deteriorating fast and I was a mess. I would plead with her, but she insisted that having the baby would be the best thing that would ever happen to me. She told me how excited she had been when she found out she was pregnant with me. She spent the rest of my visits talking about how cute I was when I was a baby. She was sure my baby would be just as cute as me.

It was nearly a month later that she finally succumbed to the illness.

My dad was a quiet mess. He seemed to be in a zombie state. I knew he loved my mother more than anything and didn't handle losing her well at all. I couldn't blame him. Neither did I. This was all my fault. It was my fault she was gone. My fault that I had made all the mistakes leading up to losing her. It got to where I couldn't bear to look at my father. I had taken the love of his life away.

When the letters from UW came about my schedule, I took them and packed up. I would at least do what my mother had wanted me to do and go to college. I just didn't know how long I would be able to stay in the dorm since I was pregnant. I had to find a job and an apartment fast. I was soon off to Seattle, hoping to leave some of the pain behind.

I was nearly six months along as I waddled across the campus. No one bothered me and I was fine with that. My dorm mate was constantly absent as well and I was fine with that, too. She had complained about me being pregnant once and I promised that I would be getting out of her room before the baby came. At least that was the plan. As it turned out, being pregnant made it hard for me to get hired. I had been living off of school loans and grants, but the money was running out fast and I was getting scared.

"Bella!" I heard my name, but I thought nothing of it. No one spoke to me here and I was sure that they were speaking to someone else. "Bella!" I heard again, "Fucking hell, duck girl."

I spun around when I heard the last part and looked at the person calling my name. My eyes took in the tall handsome form of Demetri. His hard expression softened. "Demetri?"

"I knew it was you," he said with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Last I heard you were in Forks. I've always been in Seattle."

"Right, sorry," I said blushing.

"So, you look..." he looked me up and down, "Fat, but your tits are still banging."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm pregnant, D," I said flatly.

He looked around, "Well, where's the daddy?"

I shook my head. Truth was I didn't know how to get a hold of Edward anymore. Dumb ass me, I had cut him off and then he moved to god only knew where. I had no way to get in touch with him.

"He's not in the picture."

"Oh, baby girl, I'm so sorry. Come here, let me buy you lunch."

"I'm fine."

"Let me feed you, it's the one good thing my momma taught me. Food fixes everything."

"Really?" I said sarcastically. "So a cheeseburger will fix my carburetor."

"No, but some beans might."

"What?" I chuckled.

"Beans, you know, gas, it's all good. Carburetors love that shit."

"Remind me never to let you work on my car."

I smiled up at him, happy be with a friend. We talked about what we had both been up to. I mentioned I was looking for a very cheap apartment and he said he had a room that I could rent. Apparently, he'd had a roommate that couldn't handle him dating. Turned out that his old roommate was a girl who he had been screwing when he was too tired to go out and she didn't take his dating others well.

"You know I'm not screwing you." I said flatly.

He wiggled his eyebrows at me. "What's the matter, ducky, you worried I'll get you pregnant?"

I threw a French fry at his head.

"Come on, girl, I won't fuck you if you don't want me to, but don't rule me out so quickly. I'm very good at what I do."

"Oh, I don't doubt it, D, I've seen you dance," I said with a flirting wink and he put his arm around me.

"I have a feeling this is going to work out better than I thought. Hey, you wouldn't mind playing my pregnant wife on occasion would you?"

"What?"

He shrugged. "You know, to get rid of the clingy hoochies that just won't let me go. I have a feeling one look at you would get them off my back," he said rubbing my belly.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, but let me know when you're going to pull that shit because I want to at least look good for it."

"Yes," he said fist pumping. "Come on, girl, let's get your shit together and get you home."

I was just finishing packing my stuff up when my roommate came in. It was then I realized I had never bothered to learn her name. "This is Demetri, my new roommate," I said introducing him as she eyed him a little too thoroughly. I would admit that Demetri was hot, but I knew him too well to go there.

"D, she knows I'm not your wife," I said as he circled her like he was ready to pounce.

His eyes snapped to me. "Right, right," he said and grabbed my bags for me. "You shouldn't be carrying heavy shit. I heard that somewhere."

"Thanks, D," I said as I followed him out to my car. He looked at the booger mobile.

"I think you need to replace more than the carburetor," he chuckled as he put my few things in the back seat. "I'm parked on the other side of the school, mind giving me a ride?"

I gave him a lift and then followed him to my new apartment, or I guess townhouse. It was really nice. "D, I told you I can only afford to pay three hundred dollars a month."

"Sure, I know. But you'll be performing other services as well," he said with a wink.

"I hope you're talking about housecleaning and cooking."

"Bitch, you can cook?" he asked excited and I laughed.

"Yeah, so what, I cook, and I can clean."

"And chase away hoochies, that's the deal," he said grinning.

"Right, fine, but I still feel like I'm shortchanging you."

"You master my momma's fried chicken recipe and I'll be paying you to stay here," he said with a leveling look.

I nodded. "Okay," I said with a shrug because in the end, I really didn't have anywhere else to go and I was thankful that Demetri was taking me in.

This was going to be interesting…

A/N Didn't expect that mess did ya! Please review.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37 Walking dead

EPOV

I talked with Jasper about ways we could change our plans so I could stay in Forks. Truth was there just wasn't any way to pull it off. School had me stuck here in New York for the next three years. Then we had a list and some plans of who to take down and how. They were all rough, but we planned on taking New York by storm. We would be like super heroes, just not in gay tights. The only problem with this plan was that I was alone. What started out as an exciting plan turned into the bane of my existence.

Now I just wanted to go home to Forks, back to my Bella. I looked over our list of bad guys. There were three crime lords and six higher ups. Then of course there were a few bad businessmen that were slippery as eels.

"I'm not waiting, let's just get this done and get the hell out of here. We can set up shop in Seattle," I told Jasper.

"Dude..."

"Don't dude me. You have my sister, I have no one! Bella is stuck in Forks and I'm stuck here with you!" I said with a little more disgust than I meant.

"Look, if you want out..."

"No, we don't have to wait. We have the information we need, let's just work as vigilantes and get it done now and go home."

"Like Batman?" he asked.

"Fine, yes, like Batman. You have the bugs ready and working?"

"Yeah, yeah."

We had two kinds of bugs. The dummies that were just regular bugs that would be fried when they did the sweep for bugs, and a kind that actually activated after the sweep using the sweep waves as their charge to start up. I know, it was brilliant and I would love to say it was my idea, but it wasn't. It was Jasper's and he just happened to be friends with a guy in school who helped him develop it. It wasn't just Jasper and I taking down these guys. No, there were a whole mess of people behind us in the shadows that no one else knew about; other guys that weren't always on the right side of the law, but who were good guys at heart.

"I'll be the bait. I'll set up shop. Can you get me a few bodies to make it look like we're doing something?"

"You know how dangerous that'll be?"

"We need them on our turf. Law says the tapes are shit unless someone knows about it. Can't you talk to your friend at the station and see if we can't set something up using some police props?"

"Look, Edward, I know you're anxious to get back home, but this is some major shit you're talking about pulling. I don't know that the cops will be cool with it."

"Just set it up and get me some bodies already. If we take down the big guys then the others will follow."

BPOV

Mastering the recipe D gave me for fried chicken wasn't too hard once I realized I needed to be frying it in peanut oil. Turned out D's momma knew what she was doing when it came to fried chicken and I found myself making mass quantities of the golden crispy goodness for D and myself.

"Girl, I love that you love fried chicken," D said as he sat down to a chicken dinner for the third time this week.

"Sorry, I've just been craving it."

"No, I wasn't complaining. I really _love_ that you love my momma's fried chicken, baby. God, that's so hot."

I rolled my eyes at him. He had been doing that a lot lately. Saying things to me that made me wonder about how he really felt about me.

"Some freak was following me home so she might come up to the house. She's parked across the way right now."

"What?" I shrieked at him.

"Don't worry about it, baby, I fucked her like three months ago, she's just stalking me. Nothing big, happens all the time. I just wish she would get her ass up here and see that I'm married," he said grabbing my hand with the cubic zirconium wedding set he had bought me for show. Gotta love Avon! It also staved off some of the dirty looks I had been getting at school. So, pretending to be D's wife had been a win-win.

"I don't want her stalking you, D, it makes me worry. Should I go talk to her?" I asked. Last thing I needed was for some bitch to take out my meal ticket. Without D, I was pretty sure I would end up homeless.

"Nah, I don't want you getting too close to her. Maybe we could just put on a show for her after dinner, though," he said pointing to his chicken.

I nodded in agreement. After dinner, I sent him to get the mail and just like we suspected, the girl was still there and got out of her car when he started back toward the house. D hurried up and kissed my forehead as he slid past me. The girl was right on his tail. I put my arm up, blocking her from coming into the house. "Excuse me, can I help you with something?" I asked and rested my hand with the fake ring on my stomach.

She looked past me and then back at my face. "I'm looking for Demetri," she snapped.

"My husband?" I asked.

Her eyes widened. "Your what?"

"My husband," I said holding up my hand and then rubbed my belly again. "Is he working on your car or something?" I asked innocently.

Before she could say anything, I turned and called D. "D, honey, there's a woman here, I think she's having car trouble."

He came up behind me and kissed my neck. "Why don't you go lay down, sweetie, you know the doctor wanted you off your feet."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, but don't be long, honey, I've missed you today."

He pecked my lips lightly. "I'll be right in, I promise," he said and I waddled back into the house, but stayed within earshot.

"YOU'RE MARRIED!" the girl shrieked.

"Will you chill? My wife is supposed to take it easy. She can't be getting upset; it isn't good for the baby."

I heard a slap and then D came in rubbing his face. "Well, that worked, sort of."

I shook my head laughing at him. "If you're going to play the game, you'd better be able to take the pain." It only sort of rhymed, but hey, it worked for me.

"Yeah, yeah, girl, I know," he grumped and dipped a biscuit in his leftover gravy.

I grabbed him an ice pack and set it on his red cheek. He smiled up at me. "You know, you're too good to me. Why can't all girls be as cool as you, Bella?"

"Because you're screwing them, D. Believe me, if you were my boyfriend, I wouldn't be okay with you messing around, either."

"Hey, for the right girl I might settle down," he said pulling me to sit on his lap. "She just has to keep up with my sexual appetite," he said and nipped my neck.

I shoved him back. "D, I don't think there's a woman on the planet that can keep up with you. You're probably why they invented polygamy."

"That's right, baby," he bounced me in his lap with a couple of hip thrusts, "I'd keep all my wives satisfied."

I laughed and got up off of him. It was easy to be too comfortable with D. He might be a player, but deep down he really was sweet. Of course, all this talk of sex was getting to me. I didn't want D, but it didn't mean I didn't want something.

Once I was done cleaning up after dinner, I went to my room in hopes of finding some relief. I had given in and done some experimenting and found if I touched myself just so that it felt pretty good. I tucked myself into bed and got to work. Once I came, D's voice called my attention to the doorway where he was watching me. "You know, I can help you with that, baby," he said running his hand over his crotch. I flinched and pulled my blanket up to my chin.

"No, thank you," I said blushing and he chuckled.

"Oh, sweet girl," he said walking over to me and sitting on the edge of the bed. His hand was on my thigh and it was starting to scare me. "I don't know who you're holding out for," his hand slid up my thigh to my center and he pressed down through the blanket, but I moved back away from him, "But when you get tired of waiting, you know where to find me." He leaned over and kissed the top of my head and then walked out.

He didn't come on to me really, just 'offered his services'. He continued his game of married man to hide from his girls and after a few days, I was able to relax again in his presence. He had a way of making sex not seem like such a big deal. It was like eating dinner to him, just one more thing to do to survive in the world of D.

I came home a week later and just collapsed on the couch. I was enormous and it was wearing me out. D came walking in talking on his phone. "Yeah, yeah, but I don't think I can fly," he said and winked at me. "No, my girl is ready to pop so I ain't leaving her behind. No way am I missing this baby coming."

I pushed myself up and he sat down next to me, letting me lean on him. He twirled my hair in his fingers. "Nah, man, the train would be cool." He turned to me, "You want to take a train ride with me? I got some business in New York."

I shrugged. I silently wondered if I would have time to look for Edward while we were there. I knew he was going to school at NYU. Maybe if I was there I could find a student listing or something.

"Yeah, she's cool. Just set her up with your girl or something while we work. Hey, you mind if we stop off and say hi to my mom since we'll be crossing the state?" He smiled widely. "Yeah, I want to introduce my girl to my momma. Of course we're serious. I have a ring on her finger." I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Nah, she doesn't mind that I chase more pussy than a cat. That's why she's perfect for me."

"How long will we be gone?" I asked.

"Dude, how long is this going to take?"

He turned to me and smiled. "Hopefully, just a week and then we're going to get the hell out of dodge."

"Is what you're doing legal?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I think so, my guys have never steered me wrong, baby. I trust them," he said with a softness in his eyes.

I took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "Fine, but if something happens and I end up having this baby in jail, I am so taking your balls off, D."

He laughed and rubbed my belly. He had been doing that a lot lately. "No way would I let our girl be born in the slammer."

He was so sure it was a girl. I kind of hoped it was a little boy that looked just like Edward so I could have part of him with me, but I honestly would love either one. I guess in the end, my mother was right.

God, I missed her.


	38. Chapter 38

SM owns it, and I own Dollybigmomma, so there!

Chapter 38 Big fish in a small pond

BPOV

I was doing my best not to get my hopes up. It was hard, but come on; I would be in the same state as Edward. Maybe, just maybe, I would see him somewhere. Maybe I would be able to just feel where he was and find him. I hated myself for cutting him off. I did it just before his family's big move, too, so everyone had new numbers and addresses. I had deleted the email contacts and any other online presence, so yeah, I basically sent myself up shit creek without a paddle and now here I was ready to pop and only Demetri to hold my hand. I couldn't help but cry.

"Hey, girl, what is it this time?" Demetri asks me. "Your shoes are still tied."

The poor guy deserved a medal because he spent the first twenty minutes of the train ride calming me down after I realized my shoe was untied.

I shook my head at him. I hadn't told him Edward, was the father or that I wanted to try and find him while I was in New York. I knew he was going there for business. Truth was I didn't really know what D did for a living and I had a feeling I didn't really want to know. He kept us well fed and safe, and though that might seem like a copout, the job market was slim pickings for a pregnant high school graduate.

The train pulled into the first stop we were getting off at. D wanted me to meet his mom for some insane reason. Apparently, I needed to charm her coleslaw recipe out of her. I had never been a fan of coleslaw, but whatever.

"Yo!" D yelled at someone and a big guy that looked a lot like him came jogging over with a big smile. I noticed several people were looking and turned out they were all here to meet D as well.

"Demetri, what have you been up to? I didn't quite believe it when Momma said you were coming."

"Hey, like I could pass up a chance to see my family."

"Right, right," the guy said and gave him a man hug. His eyes landed on me and he looked me up and down. "D, tell me that you didn't bring that with you," he said pointing at me.

I had been moody all day and burst into tears. D punched the guy I suspected was his brother.

"Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't mean to make your girl cry."

D had his arm around me trying to calm me down. "Damn it, Damien, I just got her settled down, asshole."

"Shit," Damien said, "Look, I didn't mean, I mean, I just…fuck," he said scratching the back of his neck.

"Just shut the fuck up and get the car."

"He, he called me…_**that.**_.." I sobbed.

"He wasn't talking about you, just your belly, baby, I swear. He's just freaking out. I'm sure he thinks I knocked you up."

I sniffled. "But you d-didn't," I stuttered.

He smiled. "I know, Damien's an idiot, don't mind him, okay."

Damien opened his car door for me and I heard him whisper, "Her water ain't gonna break on my leather or anything is it?"

I heard the smack of D hitting Damien. He slid in the back seat next to me and put his arm around me. I sniffled, trying to hold back another mood swing. Damien kept looking at me in the rearview mirror, and when D noticed, he smacked the back of his head and told him to keep his eyes on the road.

When I looked out the window, I saw several cars turning into a driveway and a big woman standing out on her porch. She was smiling widely as D waved out his window to her. She came hopping down the porch and hugged him tightly, nearly yanking him out of the car. "Oh, my baby!" she squealed, "Look at you!" she said holding him out smiling so wide, and then D turned back and helped me out of the car because let's face it, I wasn't getting out of the thing without help.

"D?" his momma said and then she looked down at my huge belly. A fire lit in her eyes I had never seen the likes of as she started beating the crap out of him. "What did I tell you, boy? I can't believe you would pull something like this, knocking up some poor girl!"

"Wait, Momma, please," he begged and I got brave enough to grab D's arm and pull him behind me. The woman stopped for just a moment and I took that opportunity to talk.

"It's not his," I said quickly, "We're just roommates, friends really, and he's helping me out. It's not his, he didn't knock anyone up."

I felt D peeking over my shoulder, still hiding behind me.

"Is she just saying that to protect you?"

"No, Momma, she isn't, she was like this when I met her," he said pointing to my stomach.

She took a deep breath and then smiled at me. "Well then, welcome to our home. D, show her up to the guest room. You're sleeping on the couch," she said pointing to him and then turned and walked into the house.

"Well, that went well," D said and I turned and looked at him like he was nuts.

"Are you insane?"

He shrugged. "I should have called."

I just shook my head at him as he helped me up the steps.

He settled me on the couch and his momma brought me some lemonade. "So, sugar, how far along are you."

"Nearly eight months," I said with a sigh, "D had some work in New York and didn't want me to be alone this close to the end."

"Where's your momma, child?" she asked softly.

D grabbed my hand, squeezing it. Over the course of several mood swings, he had learned that I had lost my mother. "She's with Jesus, Momma."

"Oh, child." She jumped up and hugged me tightly. "You just tell me what you need and I'll make sure you get it."

I couldn't help it. I burst into tears again. Damn mood swings, but I missed my momma. His mother hugged me for a while and I finally pulled myself back together as I sniffled. "I'm okay; D has been taking good care of me."

She patted D's cheek. "He's such a good boy."

"Hey, Momma, I gave Bella your fried chicken recipe and she's gotten really good at making it. Not as good as you of course, but definitely worth eating."

"Oh, yes, your chicken is so good the baby just craves it," I added.

"I was hoping you might give us your coleslaw recipe. The baby needs veggies and all, too," D asked.

"Of course, we need to keep the girl healthy."

D then went on to introduce his brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and neighbors that were all there to see him. I could tell his relatives from his neighbors because they all had names that started with D. In fact, several D names were suggested for the baby. I just let them know that I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, and D surprised me by going off on a rant how he was sure I was having a girl because I was carrying her in my hips and ate so much chicken. I had no idea why that made it a girl, but his family all seemed to agree and decided my girl should be named Daniquah after the great grandma who perfected the fried chicken recipe. I told them I would consider it.

What, that chicken was good!

EPOV

Things were not going as planned. Jasper's police contacts pretty much called us nuts and refused their help, leaving us with no backup and telling us to go screw ourselves. Yeah, Jasper said he rephrased that. Apparently, having a couple of inexperienced outsiders saying we could take down the crime lords running their town was a bit insulting. I should have seen that one coming.

Jasper kept saying he wanted to back out, that we weren't ready for this kind of operation and we needed more than a couple of classes in criminal justice before we tried to pull this kind of shit off. He was afraid if this went badly, we could end up dead, or we would end up with a bad reputation and it would affect our chances of becoming prosecuting attorneys later on.

I said we should just do it. I just wanted to get it done and get home to Bella. Our grand plans to become crusaders for justice and save the world through the legal system no longer held any intrigue for me; I just wanted to settle down with my girl and lead a normal life now. Jasper wasn't happy about the plan and even tried to get Alice to talk me out of it, but in the end, there was no turning back.

We found a vacant warehouse in someone else's territory. We didn't have a bunch of cars, but I decided to borrow several of Carlisle's and a few other people's we were friends with. Demetri pulled some strings and had a friend 'store' a bunch of parts in our warehouse so we looked like a chop shop. D would be coming in and would be driving in a couple of 'stolen cars' during our meeting.

Alice was worried that something would go wrong, but I knew we would be fine. Jasper just had to set up the bugs. Once we could get proof they were dirty, then the cops could pick them up. Really, all we were doing was standing around talking. We were then going to back out of their 'territory' peacefully and be on our way.

At least that was the plan.

**A/N: Does anyone else see this all going horribly wrong?**


	39. Chapter 39

SM owns it, Dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 39 Little fish in a big pond

BPOV

I slept pretty well in D's bed. His childhood room was plastered with all kinds of car posters. I guess it was just a foreshadowing of what was to come. I mean looking at his room and knowing he got sent away because he was a car thief made total sense.

I stumbled into the hall and heard his mom hollering at his brothers and telling them to settle down. I had to laugh at the chorus of 'yes, momma' that rang through the house. I was coming down the steps when I heard the boys shuffling around again. "He's waking up. Start the music," one of them said.

The strains of a song that sounded part disco and part rap started playing. "Chunky!" the boys all sang and I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently, they had spent the night choreographing and learning the parts to '_Big and Chunky_,' By Will.. If they weren't so funny, I probably would have cried because they were singing the song to tease D. **(If you haven't heard the song, look it up and listen to it! It's great fun!) **

They got to a part of the song where they were all stomping, causing the whole house to shake and his mother came in with a dishrag, swatting at the boys to break them up. I didn't know if I was ever really welcomed by D's family, but I was sure I was someone they would never forget.

The train ride to New York was going too fast and too slow at the same time. I was fidgeting like mad and when I shredded the third tissue, D grabbed my hands. "What's with you? I would have thought meeting my family would have been the hard part."

I shook my head no. "Your family was great. Very musically talented," I added just to tease him and he rolled his eyes.

"What's bothering you then? Is it because my momma said not to use Miracle Whip in the coleslaw? I know you put that shit on your sandwiches, but I think you should try it with mayo…"

"D, it isn't the recipe, and actually it looks pretty yummy on paper."

He pulled the paper from my hand. "Don't be getting any ideas. I don't want you eating this," he said and tucked it in his wallet. "I'll give this back after dinner," he nodded like it was serious and I rolled my eyes again.

We sat in silence for a while and his complete disregard for my discomfort was starting to get to me. I finally cracked. "He's here."

"What? Where?" D started looking around. "Who?"

"Not here, in New York, the father of my baby is in New York," I finally confessed.

"Really? Why didn't you tell me this before, B?"

"Because I was embarrassed and felt stupid. I lost all contact with him because I was an idiot. I don't know how to get a hold of him, D."

"Do you want to?" he asked and the expression on his face was hard to read.

I shrugged. "I still love him, D, I always have. I just don't know how to find him or tell him about this," I said motioning to my belly.

He leaned back, took a deep breath, and rubbed his face. "Okay, what's this fool's name? I know a guy there that has some connections. We might be able to find him."

"It's Edward Cullen."

D rubbed his chin. "That sounds familiar. Did I know this guy?"

"Yes, he was who you and Jasper came down to meet and help out at our junior prom."

"Girl, we came down for you, not Edward. Wait, was he your date that night? The fool that liked your sparkly tits finally got up the nerve to touch them?"

I blushed and laughed at the same time, then nodded my head yes.

"Alright, good for him, although he should have wrapped it," he said rubbing my belly. I swatted his hand away.

"So you think your friend will know how to get a hold of him?" I asked.

He shrugged. "He might. If anyone could find him it would be Jasper."

My ears perked up. "Your friend in New York is Jasper?" I asked.

"Yeah, doll, why?"

"I think he's engaged to Edward's sister," I said excitedly.

"What the fuck?" he said and then looked around. Apparently, his momma whacked him when she heard a swear word and D was still jumpy about it.

"My boy's pulling shit while he's trying to settle down? Is he nuts?" he whispered as if his momma might hear him, which was just silly because we weren't even in the same state as his momma anymore.

When we pulled up to the train station, D helped me off the train and let me lean on him when I stretched. Don't laugh; it was hard to keep my balance when my center of gravity changed daily.

I leaned back against him as we waited for our ride. He reached under my belly and lifted it for me, causing me to sigh in relief. "Oh, thank you. My back is killing me."

He just chuckled and kissed my shoulder. "Well, somebody's got to give you a break from carrying this baby. I used to do this for my momma when she was carrying my baby brother, Daniel."

"Thanks, D, you're a life saver."

EPOV

Jasper asked me to pick up Demetri and his girl from the train station. I asked why they weren't flying in and he informed me that Demetri's girl was very pregnant and ready to pop. He didn't want to leave her and she wasn't cleared to fly.

I was getting ready to leave when Alice cut me off at the door. "You can still stop this. You don't know how much you're risking. That's my fiancé, and Demetri brought his pregnant girlfriend. It's someone's father you're messing with!"

I pushed past her. I didn't want to hear her doubts. "It'll be fine, Alice," I said as I slipped out the door.

She shouted after me, "If anything happens to Jasper, I'll never speak to you again, Edward!"

I wouldn't let my little sister get to me. I knew we would be fine. I had to just get this done and get home to my girl.

I pulled up to the train station and started looking for Demetri. We weren't close in school, he ran with another crowd and Jasper only recruited him after I left, so we weren't really acquainted well other than by reputation. He seemed pretty cool, if not a horny sick bastard when he came down to Forks to help us get rid of Tyler. That all seemed so long ago, though. It had been three years now and I wondered if he had changed much.

I wasn't spotting him and realized I probably wouldn't recognize him, so I started looking for pregnant girls. I mean how many could there be in a train station?

The answer was one.

Their back was to me and he had his arms around her. I saw her belly before I saw her face, but when I did, everything stopped.

"Edward?" Bella said sounding excited to see me, but I couldn't imagine why. "Oh, my god, Edward!" she said hugging me and started crying.

I glared at Demetri and pried Bella off of me. "Can't you control her?" I asked.

My face was suddenly stinging and Bella was sobbing in Demetri's arms.

"Dude, that was so not cool," Demetri said as he rubbed Bella's back.

I just shook my head at him, still furious at the pair of them. "Neither is fucking my girlfriend, but that didn't seem to stop you."

"What?" Bella and Demetri said in unison.

I realized she had broken up with me, but that didn't stop her from being my girlfriend in my heart. Okay, that sounded a little stalkerish.

"You got this all wrong," Demetri started but was cut off by Bella.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" she yelled and punched me. Yeah, really didn't see that one coming.

"B, you've got to calm down," Demetri said holding her back.

"How dare you!" she shouted at me.

"How dare I?" I started but Demetri stopped me.

"Don't, man, I guarantee you'll regret it. I ain't sleeping with Bella."

"What?" I was getting confused.

She seemed to be settling down and Demetri let her go only to have her slap me again. "It's yours, you asshole!" she said and stormed off.

I stood there stunned for a moment trying to make sense of the words she had said. I looked at Demetri who nodded yes and then pointed to Bella's retreating form. "We'd better catch up to her. We need to settle her down; it isn't good for your baby."

I was sure I looked pained as I looked back at him, still trying to process the words 'it's yours' and 'your baby.'

Demetri was already catching up to Bella when my brain decided to function and move after them as well. "Wait, What?" I shouted after them.

As I approached, I heard Bella crying to Demetri, "How could he even think that?"

"Well, I am pretty irresistible," he teased.

She laughed and hit his chest. I didn't know how they had become so close, but it was starting to bother me. "Bella," I said trying to form a coherent thought in my head besides 'get away from him.'

She looked up at me with her thick wet eyelashes and I did the only thing I could think of. "I'm sorry."

She took a shuttering breath and then lunged into my arms, sobbing hard on my shoulder. "I didn't know how to find you," she cried. "I was so scared and all alone and you were gone."

"Shh shh, baby, I've got you now," I said holding her. I looked to Demetri who was smiling widely at us. If that didn't prove they weren't involved, I didn't know what would.

"Let's get your girl home. She needs some rest after that long train ride," Demetri said and I realized that I finally had Bella in New York. I would do my best to make the most of it.

A/N The end is coming soon!


	40. Chapter 40

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just beat my key board senseless and hope it turns out a chapter.

Chapter 40 Sleepless night

BPOV

We went to Jasper and Alice's place. It was tiny but cute. Alice was too busy glaring at Edward to notice it was me with him until I called to her and told her hello. Her eyes snapped to me and looked me up and down several times. She looked to Demetri and then to Edward and opened her mouth several times in shock. Yeah, I was eight months pregnant, why was this so shocking to everyone? It was like they had never seen a pregnant girl before.

Edward pulled me into a little bedroom before she could say anything which was probably a good thing. I would let the boys straighten that out. He had me lay down and tucked a couple of pillows around me. "Are you okay? Are you feeling better now?" Edward asked worried.

I yawned, realizing that D was right, that damn train ride totally whooped me good. "I'm fine; I just need some sleep," I said and he kissed my forehead.

"You rest, I'll make sure Alice is nice and takes care of you when you wake up."

"Where will you be?"

"I have some business to attend to with Demetri and Jasper. Don't worry; I'll be back tomorrow morning to take you home. Just sleep for now, everything is going to be fine," he said and I couldn't help but snuggle down into the soft pillows. He brushed my hair back from my face and kissed my cheek and I was out.

EPOV

I was freaking out internally. I kept thinking there had to be some mistake, that Bella wasn't really pregnant. Maybe she was just really, really fat. Yeah, that was totally normal, some depressed lonely people put on weight, right?

I tucked her in and as I went to pull the blanket up over her, her belly shifted and I swear it was a little foot sticking out for a second. Maybe she was abducted by aliens. Yeah, aliens, and the thing was trying to tear its way out like in that sappy vampire series.

"You okay?" Demetri asked as I closed the door softly. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"I, ugh, are you, um…?"

"Don't even ask me if I'm sure it's not my baby because I can tell you now, that girl did not let me lay one finger on her," he said wiggling his fingers low and suggestively. "Not for my lack of trying, mind you. Poor thing would rather suffer waiting for you than let me give her some relief."

I went from sick to wanting to kill him.

He must have seen the change in my demeanor because he didn't shut up. "Look, man, she's pregnant, really pregnant with your baby girl."

"It's a girl?" Alice chimed in.

Demetri shrugged. "Well, she said they couldn't tell when they did the ultrasound, but she's carrying it like a girl."

"How do you know what a girl carries like?" Jasper asked.

"Seriously, man? You know my momma has six kids, right? And I'm the oldest. Not to mention all eight of my aunts and uncles that live in town have had a bazillion kids themselves. I've been around pregnant women since the day I was born."

Apparently, Demetri was a pregnancy expert.

"Besides, B has a thing for my momma's fried chicken. If she was carrying a boy, it would be steak," he said crossing his arms like his word was final.

"Do you know when she's due?" Alice asked. I should have been asking that, but truth was I was still freaking out inside.

"Yeah, she has three weeks left until she pops. You should watch her, though, she could go anytime. That's why I brought her along. I didn't want her home alone."

"What happened to her parents? Why isn't she with them?"

"Man, I don't know anything about her dad, but I do know that her mother died this past summer."

"What?" I freaked even more.

"Oh no!" Alice gasped.

"Yeah, I guess she just got sick. Bella was all tore up about it. She keeps saying she couldn't help her mother because she was pregnant, but I don't know how her not being pregnant could have changed anything, do you?"

"Oh, my GOD! Edward, you killed her mother with your dick!" Alice screamed.

"What the hell?" Demetri was looking at Alice like she was nuts, but ultimately she was right. It was my horny uncontrolled dick that impregnated Renee's donor source, making her unable to donate. Fucking hell, that had to be killing Bella.

"Bella's mother had an auto-immune disease that required plasma donations from Bella for her to get over illnesses. She was the only compatible plasma donor for her mother," Alice explained. "When Edward got her pregnant, she wasn't able to donate anymore. Edward killed her mom with his dick."

"Would you please stop saying that?" I snapped.

"Dude, that's messed up, man," Demetri said shaking his head. "I'm surprised she's even talking to you. No wonder she didn't want to find you."

"What?" Now this was news to me.

"Look, man, I don't know about you, but in this day and age, if you want to find someone, it ain't that hard. Bella kept her mouth shut about you. She said you weren't in her life and only mentioned looking for you when we were on our way here."

Did Bella not really want to find me? Did she plan on having my baby and not telling me? That was just all kinds of messed up.

"Edward, are we going to cancel the mission?" Jasper asked pulling me out of my thoughts.

Did I back out now? I looked at Demetri who had come all this way to help and shook my head no. "We need to get to work," I said and Alice stomped her foot.

She grabbed Jasper's arm. "You've got to talk some sense into him."

"I don't need sense, Alice, I have a plan," I growled. I was getting sick of her complete lack of support. "Why don't we take this to the warehouse? We have setting up to do anyway. Alice, look after Bella would you?"

"Like I have a choice," she said crossing her arms angrily.

Jasper leaned down and kissed her lips. "Don't be like that, baby. He's your brother."

"My stubborn idiot brother who absolutely refuses to listen to anyone!" she yelled at me over his shoulder.

"Yeah, love you, too, sis. I'll see you in the morning after this is all over and we're done talking with the papers about how us regular Joes were able to take down the damn Mafia," I said brushing past her and went out the door. I would let her apologize in the morning.

BPOV

I woke up to Alice crying. I stumbled out after using the bathroom and sat down next to her, not sure what to say. I didn't know why she was crying. "Are you okay?" I asked not really sure how to broach this.

"No! My stupid brother is going to get himself and Jazzy killed!"

"What are you talking about, Alice?"

"Didn't Demetri tell you?"

"No, he never talks business with me and I'm fine with that because I think I'd rather not know."

"Well, you'd want to know now. They're trying to set up a mob boss, Big Boss Barone, and get him caught saying incriminating stuff so he can be taken down."

"WHAT? Is he insane? What the hell is he thinking?" I shouted.

"He originally started this so he could go home to you."

"What does taking down the mob have to do with me?"

"Hell if I know. Those stupid boys are trying to play super heroes and I just know it's going to go horribly wrong, Bella, I can just feel it in my bones. I'm going to lose my husband and my brother because he's being a stupid idiot and won't listen to anyone warning him that this is too dangerous."

"Well, I haven't told him it's too dangerous. Where are they doing this, Alice? We've got to stop them, now before it's too late!"

Alice called for a cab to come get us. She gave them the address and told them to send someone with balls that could handle being in the warehouse district. When I asked her about it, she said that she didn't want the cabby to wuss out on us when we gave him the address after he got here. I pulled up Big Boss Barone on my cell phone and started doing some research. I had to come up with a plan fast.

A big tough looking guy pulled up in a tiny yellow cab. "Why are you broads going to such a dangerous place in the middle of the night?"

"To get our stupid men," Alice said firmly.

He glanced back and saw that we were both wearing wedding rings. He didn't know mine was a fake that D had given me and it was none of his business. I didn't bother to correct his assumption, either.

"Wait here," Alice ordered the cabby, "and don't be alarmed if we're dragging men out by their ears." She spun on her heels and headed into the warehouse. It was dark and we heard moaning.

"Come on, Son, if you're going to play with the big boys, you need to be tougher than that."

We heard the slapping of skin and I cringed. I realized our men were probably getting the crapped beat out of them.

"Alice, we have to do something!" I squeaked.

Then the big thick hand of our cabby landed on our shoulders.

EPOV

Everything was going smoothly, we were ready for Big Boss Barone to come in and hang himself. He arrived a few minutes earlier than I expected, but it wasn't a big deal. He came walking in like he owned the place. Turned out he did.

"Whose do you thinks you are, setting up shop in my house? I didn't gives you no permission," he snarled in a deep Bronx accent and snapped his fingers. His guys went around knocking stuff off the shelves. I hoped it didn't break, that shit was expensive.

"I think we need to call the insurance company, don't you, Frankie? It seems that a fire broke out in my house, killing a couple of bums," Barone said and Frankie cracked his knuckles.

Demetri had the worst timing in the world. "Hey, boss," he said pulling up in a black Cadillac with tinted windows, "You should see this ride I found parked outside just ripe for the picking."

"You would steal from me?" Barone snapped. "It's one thing to be where you shouldn't, but it's another to take what's not yours." I somehow found this ironic and couldn't help the stupid smile that was promptly punched off my face.

I watched as they snagged Demetri and worried that they would hurt him, too. "You jacked my ride?" a guy asked.

Demetri just shrugged.

"Where were the guys that were supposed to be watching it?"

"They were having a smoke with their backs to it. You should have seen their faces when the car started moving away and they fell over!"

Barone actually smiled at that one. "I like this kid, he's good. Johnny, we got some work for him in the shop?"

"Yeah, boss," said the guy holding Demetri.

"Good, you work for me now," Barone said putting his cigar out on the support beam next to him. "As for you, I don't have a place for a troublemaker."

"Hey, boss," a big man came walking out and my heart dropped when I saw he had Alice and Bella, "These chicks came to take their naughty boys home."

Barone looked them up and down. It didn't escape my notice that his eyes rested on the rings on the girl's hands. "You boys married?" he asked me.

"Yes," snapped Alice defiantly. I wished she would just shut up and get the hell out of here.

"Which one is yours?" Barone asked me.

"I am," Bella said in a strong voice. "I'm here to take this idiot home, out of your state and out of your hair. I don't know what he was trying to prove, but it stops now!" she snapped and pulled away from the man. He let her go as she stormed over to me. "You stupid son of a bitch," she said and slapped me, "What the hell are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!" She shocked me by turning to Barone. "Mr. Barone, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I know there must be some sort of mix up. I know you're an honorable businessman and even donate to several charities that I favor. I'm going to school to be a veterinarian and that donation to SPCA was just, well," she said gushing, "It was more than generous. I don't know how to thank you for that."

Barone smiled at my girl. "Well, the pound is the best place to get guard dogs you know. I like 'em feisty."

She giggled at him. "See, I knew I liked you." She turned to me. "Edward, what am I going to do with you? You're going to make a complete fool of yourself. Don't you know Mr. Barone here is very respected in not only the business community, but in the law enforcement one as well? He helped bring down an illegal shipping trade last year. There's no way they would let you tarnish his reputation with this crap you're trying to pull."

It was true; he did help bring down an illegal shipping trade, but only because it was his competitor.

"What's your name, my dear?" Mr. Barone asked my girl.

She turned and smiled at him. "Isabella, but you can call me Bella. It's such an honor to meet you, Sir." I didn't know what the hell she was up to, but it seemed to be working.

"Bella, beautiful," he said walking over to her and kissed her hand. She blushed. That was my blush. "It seems you've done your homework on me."

"Well, when Alice told me they were trying to incriminate you, I looked you up right away. I was furious, I mean, can't they see all the good you do?" she said looking into his eyes. "I knew I had to stop them. I swear, Sir. I didn't know anything about this or I would have stopped them long ago."

He brushed the hair back from her cheek. "I like you, Bella, I like you a lot." He ran his hand down to her belly and I watched as her baby shifted. My baby, I corrected in my head.

"This is Edward's?" he asked.

She nodded yes and blushed again. He smiled at her. "Look at this, look at this beautiful girl," he said to the others. "Okay, I've changed my mind." He snapped his fingers, "Marco, bring out the other guy."

Another man came walking in holding Jasper. Alice ran to him, throwing her arms around him. Marco just looked confused at the small woman attacking the guy he was holding. Barone started laughing. "Look at that, that's so sweet." He turned to Bella and smiled at her. "You've put me in a good mood," he said taking her hand and kissed it. "You said you and your boys would leave town. I'll let you go, and keep in mind that we'll be watching." He raised an eyebrow at her but she just nodded her head yes and threw her arms around him, startling him and everyone else.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. I promise to keep him in line on the other side of the continent."

He laughed. "Alright, beautiful." He clapped his hands. "You got the bugs?" he asked Marco and I noticed he was holding up both kinds of them. We would have nothing. He patted my cheek hard. "Nice try, Sherlock, now you take care of that girl or…" He made a motion at his neck like he would slit my throat.

"Yes, Sir," I tried not to stutter but failed.

He patted my shoulder and walked over to the car that Demetri had driven in and smiled at him. "You know where to find me," he said pointing at him and then he was gone. I was left standing there speechless, dying to know one thing.

What the hell just happened?

A/N So who thought Edward and Jasper were going to be the next Batman and Robin? So not happening they aren't that cool. Thanks for reading please review.


	41. Chapter 41

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 41 Delivering the goods

EPOV

As soon as the car pulled out of the warehouse, Bella let out a cry and collapsed. Demetri was closest to her and caught her before she hit the ground. I was at her side instantly, but she was already curled around Demetri sobbing.

"Bella, are you alright?" Demetri asked worried.

"No," she cried into his neck. She was breathing hard as she sobbed.

"Bella, baby," I started but she snapped.

"Don't you baby me, you asshole!" she shouted and then cringed.

I looked to Demetri and saw the worry in his eyes. This wasn't good.

"You need to calm down, baby girl," Demetri whispered softly rubbing her belly.

"I almost lost you both," she sobbed into his neck.

"But you didn't, sweetheart, we're fine, we're here safe with you. Just breathe deep, okay? You need to settle down."

"He almost got us all killed!" she cried clutching her stomach.

Demetri looked up at me nervously. "Get the car now."

"What's going on?" I asked really starting to worry. This looked like more than a mood swing.

"Get the damn car!" Demetri snapped and I jumped up and ran to my car.

Demetri picked Bella up off the ground and I was jealous that he was holding her. She was mine; that was my girl, my baby. I didn't like the way she was clinging to him.

"I'm scared," I heard her whisper to him.

"You want me to call my momma?" he asked.

She nodded her head yes, and as soon as they were settled in the back seat, he pulled out his phone.

"What's going on?" Alice asked running over to the car.

"We're going to the hospital to get B checked out," Demetri said giving me a hard look. I didn't think I would ever forgive myself if something happened to Bella because of my stupidity.

"Hey, Momma," Demetri started, "Bella's going into the hospital to get checked out and she's scared. I'm worried she might have preeclampsia. She was in a high stress situation with the daddy of her baby and isn't doing well."

I tried to tune out the rest of the conversation. I wasn't sure what the hell preeclampsia was or how Demetri knew about it, but I hoped Bella and the baby would be okay.

"What hospital will we be at?" Demetri asked me.

"Saint John," I said not really knowing another one in the area. I was just going to the one I drove past and was sure of where it was.

Demetri was giving his mom the information she needed and I tried to focus on the road. I looked back at Bella and noticed she was out. I wondered if she was sleeping, but when I looked up at Demetri's face, he looked in pain.

"Pull up into the ER, they've got to help her fast!" he shouted at me as we pulled into the parking lot. I skidded to a stop and a nurse came out to tell us to move, but Demetri was out of the car with a limp looking Bella and she immediately got to work on her.

"I think it's preeclampsia, she's thirty-seven weeks and two days," he said and I wished it was me that knew this stuff.

I watched as they put her on a stretcher and ran her down the hall, taking her blood pressure and starting an IV.

Alice came in looking worried. She handed me a purse. "It's Bella's; it might have insurance information or something in it," she said.

The receptionist came up and asked me to fill out the forms for Bella. I wondered if I should call her dad. I didn't know what to tell him yet, though.

I filled out the forms as best I could, but Demetri ended up taking them from me and finishing them off. He dug through her purse and pulled out a little card and set it with the papers. "That's a mini copy of her past checkups," he said.

The nurse smiled. "Thank you, this will be helpful," she said and took it back to where the doctor was working on Bella.

I stood, pacing while waiting for word on what the hell was going on. Demetri looked stressed, pacing right along with me. Finally, another nurse came walking out. "Is there a Momma D here for Bella Swan?"

I was about to ask her what the hell she was talking about when a big woman came rushing down the hall. "I'm here, how's my baby girl?"

"This way please, she's asking for you," the nurse said leading the woman back.

I stood stunned. "Who was that?"

"My momma, her and Bella bonded on our trip to visit her," Demetri answered not surprised at all by his mother's sudden appearance.

Demetri's mother came out a few minutes later. "Demetri, Edward, Bella is asking for you."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"They're going to take the baby."

"Take it?" I asked panicked. Was something wrong with it?

"Cool down, man, you're gonna be a daddy."

"What? That's what that means? Are they okay? Is Bella okay?" I asked worried.

Momma D put her arm around me, "You just hang on, Son, Jesus will take care of our girl."

"What does that mean? She's dead?" I screeched.

"No, baby, she's going to be okay. You boys got her here in time." She reached out and patted Demetri's face, "You spotting it helped them know what to look for." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Such a good boy. You know, you should become a doctor, baby," she said to him as we walked down the hall.

"I like cars, Momma."

"Oh, don't give me that cars excuse, I know you like girls just as much. You would be a great doctor, baby, girls love doctors," she said as she opened the door. I wished they would just shut up and tell me what the hell was going on with Bella.

When Bella spotted us, she reached out her hand and Momma D took it and kissed her forehead. "You're gonna be alright, baby. You're having your little one today. It's so exciting. You just hang on to me and we'll get through this."

Bella started crying and whimpering that she was scared. The doctor walked in. "Who's the father?"

I raised my hand nervously and looked at Demetri, almost expecting him to raise his but he didn't.

"Please go with Nurse Jane, she'll help you get dressed so you can be there for the baby's arrival."

"Okay," I said nervously and was joined shortly by Momma D. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, honey, have a little faith. She's gonna be just fine, I can feel it in my heart." She patted her chest and I noticed the golden cross with Jesus hanging on it. I never would have expected that Demetri came from a religious household, but I guess you never know.

"This way," Nurse Jane said calling us.

I followed her on shaky legs, not really sure I was going to make it through this.

They had Bella on a table and a curtain of some sort up so she couldn't see her belly. They were drawing dotted lines on her and I realized what they were doing. They were going to cut her open. I must have looked sick because Momma D took my hand and had me sit in a chair as she pushed my head down between my legs.

"Is he alright?" I heard Bella ask.

"Yes, just a little excited, honey. He's fine. You just hold onto my hand and tell me about your baby. Demetri says he's sure you're having a girl."

"I think it's a boy."

"Why a boy?" she asked Bella.

"That was what I was hoping for. I wanted a little boy that looked like his daddy, but I guess it doesn't matter now."

"Why not?"

"I didn't expect to see his daddy again," she said and took a deep breath. "It's getting harder to breathe."

"Don't panic, honey, that's normal, just breathe slowly as I count," Momma D said.

She was counting, in one-two-three, out two-three. "Just relax, is that better?" Momma D asked after a few rounds of that.

"Yeah, yeah, that's better, thanks."

"That's what I'm here for. So, you wanted a boy?"

"Yes, I didn't plan on ever seeing his dad again. I would have thought he would have come back for the summer or looked for me, maybe fought with me more about being together, but he just left," she said and was struggling to breathe again.

"Well, he's here now," Momma D said, but I wasn't, I was across the room with my head down, listening to the girl I loved tell me I should have fought for her.

"How was I supposed to fight for you? It was your mom, how could I make you leave her?" I asked.

Momma D put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed, giving me a look that said shut up.

"You should have come back," Bella breathed out, gasping for air again.

"I planned on coming back once I was done with Jasper. I was coming back to stay with you," I told her.

She turned her head and looked at me with her deep soulful eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, really, I would never leave for good," I said taking her hand and kissing her forehead. I would have kissed her lips, but she was still trying to breathe. "I love you, Bella, I always have. I never stopped."

Tears were running down her face. "I love you, too, Edward, always."

The sound of a baby's cry caught our attention. "It's a girl!" the doctor announced. "Would you like to cut the cord, Daddy?" he asked me.

Bella nodded her head at me, telling me to go do it. I kissed her head again and took the snips from the doctor. The cord was nothing like I thought. The sticky, rubbery mess was hard to cut, but it finally gave and my baby girl was officially here.

I had a daughter!

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	42. Chapter 42

SM owns it, dollybigmomma is medicated and still betaing, love her!

Chapter 42 Calls

EPOV

I had a daughter. I sat in the hospital room looking over at Bella who was fast asleep while our little girl was tucked safely down in the nursery. It still hadn't all sunk it. I just stared at my girl laying there, shocked that she was really here.

She was here and we had a daughter.

Needless to say, I was freaking out. I wished I had my parents to talk to. I wished I had someone to talk to. I had become closer with Carlisle over the last couple of years, but this was something I didn't think he could understand. He had never had a baby.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts. I smirked when I saw it was Carlisle. I answered it nervously, not sure what to tell him.

"Hello?"

"Edward, thank goodness. Esme has been a mess, where are you?"

"I'm…" I looked over at Bella, "I'm fine."

"Good, now where are you?" he asked again.

"The hospital."

"What? What happened? Are Jasper and Alice alright?"

"Yeah, I'm here with Bella."

"Bella? Bella who?"

"Swan, Carlisle, I'm here with Bella Swan."

"What is she doing in New York? Shouldn't she be back home with her parents?"

I remembered Carlisle was her mother's doctor for some time. "Renee's dead, Carlisle."

"What happened?" he snapped.

"She died last summer, I guess not long after we left."

"Oh, no, how is Bella taking it?"

"I don't know; she hasn't really talked to me about it."

"Which hospital are you at?" Carlisle asked gently.

"Saint John," I answered.

"Uh, are you, um, in the mental health wing?" he asked carefully.

"What?"

"I know she put a lot on herself when it came to her mother's health."

"No, Carlisle," I didn't say it rudely, I knew he was right. "We're in the maternity ward."

The line was silent for a moment and then he spoke softly, "Edward, is she pregnant?"

"No, we just had a baby girl."

"You had a…" he paused, I was sure letting it all sink in. "She had a baby? Edward, why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know, I just found out yesterday."

"Why didn't you come to us?"

I was getting annoyed with this line of questioning. He was acting hurt which was ridiculous. "It's not like you have experience in this area, Carlisle. I mean she just freaking showed up and then pop, my little girl was here."

"You don't think I have experience with suddenly becoming a parent? Need I remind you, I had no warning before you and Alice were thrust on us? If anything, I think I probably have the most experience."

He was right. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just, it hasn't all sunk in. I'm sitting here in her room watching her sleep and I still keep blinking, trying to see if I'm seeing things. But she's here, Carlisle, and we have a baby girl. I was there for it, I cut the cord, and right now I'm freaking out, but I'm trying to be strong for her and I'm worried I'm going to mess everything up."

"Don't worry, Edward, we'll be there soon. I'll let Esme know what's going on."

"Thanks, Carlisle."

"I just have one question, Edward; are you sure the baby is yours?"

I let out an audible growl. "Yes, and don't you dare question her about it, she's a mess as it is."

I heard Carlisle take a deep breath, "Alright, we'll be there soon."

BPOV

I woke up in my hospital room. It was dim, but I could see someone sitting there watching me. They got up and came closer and I was relieved to see it was Edward. It would have been creepy if it was Demetri.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Alright, how is the baby?" I was worried. They said she was fine, but I wanted to be sure nothing had happened since they moved me to my room.

"She's good; do you want me to call for the nurse to bring her in?"

I nodded yes and he reached my call button and a woman's voice came over the intercom. "Yes?"

"Ms. Swan would like to see her baby; could you have someone bring her in?"

"Of course."

Edward was being so cool headed, I wondered if he really was okay with being a daddy, but I wasn't going to ask him. I wondered if he wanted to really be a part of mine and our daughter's life.

The nurse came in pushing the little bed and picked up the baby's wrist. She compared mine and the baby's bracelets before smiling and leaving us alone.

Edward surprised me by going over and picking her up, but I guess he realized I couldn't really get out of bed yet. My legs were still a little numb. He looked terrified and amazed at the same time as he brought our daughter to me. "She's so little."

"How much did she weigh?" I asked as he handed her to me.

"Seven pounds even," he answered still looking at her wide eyed.

"That's a good size. I was worried she would be small being a little early. Did the doctor say she was fine, all developed?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, she has a great pair of lungs and was very alert. The doctor said she was healthy."

I smiled down at my little dark haired baby girl. She didn't seem to look anything like Edward yet, but I wondered if she would end up with his eyes. I hoped that she did. I loved his eyes.

"Bella?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah?"

"What's her name?" Edward seemed to blush lightly as he asked.

"I was thinking we could name her after our mothers if that's alright with you?"

"Renee Elizabeth?" he asked excited.

Hearing the sound of my mother's name hurt a little, but I still needed to use her name. "How about Elizabeth Renee?" I asked.

"Really?" he asked excited.

"Yeah, are you okay with using your mother's name?"

He laughed lightly. "I love it, baby, thank you," he said and leaned down and kissed me softly.

The clearing of someone's throat caught our attention.

"Edward," Carlisle said smoothly. "Bella, how are you doing?"

Esme came up behind him. He hadn't stepped into the room yet, and she was trying frantically to peek around him and surprised us all by giving him a good shove, barging her way in. "Where is this baby?" she asked excited. I couldn't help but laugh as the scene played out. Carlisle straightened himself and looked over at his wife. "I said to be calm, Esme."

She waved him off, not taking her eyes off my daughter. "What is her name, dear?" she asked me.

"Elizabeth Renee Cullen," I said nervously looking up at Edward, worried he wouldn't want to use his last name, but he just seemed to smile wider.

"Elizabeth," Esme said with her hand on her heart and then reached out to Edward, squeezing his hand. "She's so beautiful," she said fighting back tears. "Can I hold her?"

I passed little Elizabeth to her and I watched Edward as his eyes watched my daughter, our daughter. He couldn't take his eyes off her. I could tell he was scared, but in awe at the same time. He watched as Carlisle came over and little Elizabeth grabbed his finger. Edward let out a choking laugh as Carlisle smiled down, a little surprised at our daughter.

"She's beautiful, Edward," he told him.

"Yeah, now I just have to figure out what you're supposed to do with a baby," he said.

Esme tisked at him. "Oh, dear boy, you love her," she said and kissed her little head.

"Where are you staying when you're released?" Carlisle asked me.

"With me," Edward answered for me.

"Oh, how exciting, Carlisle dear, we need to go shopping!" Esme squealed.

"You might want to hold off on that," a deep voice said from the door. The large man I recognized as the cabdriver knocked on the frame of the door before stepping in, holding a huge flower arrangement. He looked over at the little bundle that was my daughter and I felt the urge to jump up and protect her from him. Edward quickly stepped between them and the man passed him the flowers. "My boss heard about the baby coming. He wanted me to tell you guys congratulation and he understands that Ms. Bella will need six weeks to recoup, but at the end of the six weeks, you need to vamoose, the deal is the same," he said looking sternly at Edward.

Edward nodded his head firmly.

"Who are you?" Carlisle asked a little accusatorily and I didn't want them to start anything with him.

"Tell your boss thank you very much for the flowers and the time," I cut in.

The cabby nodded at me and headed out the door, leaving Esme and Carlisle looking bewildered and confused.

"What just happened, Edward?" Carlisle asked sternly.

"We were just given six weeks before we have to leave the state."

"Six weeks? Who was that?"

"That was one of Big Boss Barone's men."

"Big Boss…" Carlisle said shocked, "The mob? What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Nothing, as long as we leave town, we'll be fine," he said taking my hand and kissed it. "We'll be fine," he said looking right into my eyes. I guess he saw the panic. I didn't want anything to happen to my baby.

Somehow, I doubted it would take me six weeks to get us the hell out of here.

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	43. Chapter 43

SM owns it, dollybigmomma rocks it, I just write it.

Chapter 43 Screaming demon

EPOV

Once Bella was released from the hospital, I took her home to the house Carlisle and Esme had purchased. I had been staying with them since Jasper and Alice were married. I suddenly felt like a loser as I helped her upstairs to the bed. She was supposed to avoid stairs, but there was no way to get to the bed otherwise. Needless to say, she wasn't thrilled about me carrying her up the stairs. Esme said she was most likely just self-conscious about her baby weight.

Esme brought little Elizabeth up the stairs to a basinet that she had picked out. It was so pink and ruffled, I was worried I might lose the baby in it.

The baby, my baby, my little girl, it was all still sinking in.

I was kind of glad Bella seemed to take the lead on caring for the baby because I was at a complete loss. Esme would step in and help her out when she needed time to sleep or whatever. I pretty much only held her when she was happy and awake which seemed like almost never. Was it weird that I wanted to hold my baby? I felt like I should get to know her or something. I realized that was stupid, it wasn't like I could ask her what her favorite color was. It would be funny if she said black and told me to get rid of the masses of pink people kept attacking her with.

Bella was napping and Esme had run to the store. I was left with Elizabeth alone for the first time. Well, sort of. She was in my care and awake, so yeah, this was a big deal. No one would come take her if she started crying. It was me and her. Yes, I admit I did give myself a pep talk, I could do this. I was a dad. I could take care of my little girl.

Esme had been gone for a half hour when Elizabeth started fussing. I tried changing her diaper. I was pretty sure I got it on right. She just kept screaming and kicking at me as I changed her. "Just remember that move when you start dating," I mumbled to her.

Apparently, it wasn't her soggy diaper that was upsetting her. I tried giving her the pacifier that was left with me, but she wasn't taking it. There was a knock at the door and I almost ignored it, but I realized I needed help. I was disappointed to find Demetri standing there. The idiot smiled at me. He took my baby girl from me without asking and did the most obnoxious thing. He got her to stop crying. He picked up the pacifier that was clipped to her little shirt and popped it in upside down. I was about to correct him, but Elizabeth seemed to settle right down, sucking away on it with an intense but satisfied look on her face.

He walked past me, holding my baby like he did this every day. "So, how's B doing?" he asked me. I looked at him confused. "What? I have lots of cousins and being the oldest, I babysat a _lot_."

I just frowned at him, she was my daughter.

"Edward," I heard from the stairs. I looked up to see Bella coming down. "Where is Elizabeth?" she asked with a hint of worry.

Did she not trust me with my own baby?

"I got her, B," Demetri answered. "You look like you're doing well," he said smiling at her.

"D," she said with too much happiness in her voice. That was my happiness; I didn't want to share it! "It's so good to see you."

"Your baby girl is growing fast," he said taking Elizabeth's little hand.

"Not fast enough for you!" I snapped. I didn't mean to stay that out loud.

"Don't worry, Edward, cradle robbing has never been my thing," he said and winked at Bella, or _B_ as he called her. I wanted to strangle him. That was my baby and I wanted her back now!

Elizabeth fussed a little and Bella thankfully took her. "Sounds like she's hungry," Demetri said, "Are you breastfeeding?"

"Yes, well, I'm trying to."

"Don't you dare give her breastfeeding tips," I growled.

He put his hands up like he was surrendering. "I was just going to tell her that Momma might be able to help her with that if she wanted to give her a call."

"Thank you, D, I think I will call momma D. I just can't seem to get her settled, and then she falls asleep. I think she isn't eating enough because she's waking up every hour," Bella whined. "It's exhausting."

"I think Momma had that problem with Donovan, she would know how to fix it, and if not, one of her sisters would."

"Thanks, D, I'll give her a call."

I needed to remind Bella that Demetri was far from a savior. "So, are you taking that job with Barone?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow at me and then smiled at Bella. "I was thinking about it. I wanted to be sure B and baby girl were taken care of first."

"They are."

"Edward," Bella chastened me, "Why don't you go get us something to drink while I show Demetri to the sitting room?"

I was not happy about this, but I did as she asked. Dang girl had me by the balls. "I don't want you working for Barone, D, it's dangerous," I heard Bella say.

"But think of all the hot cars I would be able to get my hands on."

"Demetri, if something happened to you, your momma would be devastated. Not only that, what kind of example would you be setting for your brothers?" she asked.

I couldn't help but smile at that one, that was right, put him in his place. "Besides, if you stay here, I would never see you again."

Crap, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Him working for Barone could have been a good thing.

"S'alright, B, I'm actually going to head back to Seattle. I just wanted to check on you first and make sure you were doing okay. They treating you right?"

"Yes, Esme is very helpful and Edward seems to be really trying, I think."

She thinks! She thinks! Of course I was trying!

"Just give him time to adjust to everything, B; this baby stuff is new to him."

She let out a sigh. "I know, but sometimes I wonder if a guy can really be that clueless, I mean hasn't he ever watched TV?"

"Guys don't notice babies, B, don't hold it against him. Maybe you can get him in a class or something when you get back to Washington."

She must have nodded or something because I didn't hear her response.

"So, B, I've got to ask. Are you coming home to me or am I going to be on my own again?"

"Oh, D, I wish I could, but I really need help with Elizabeth and I know you're busy doing whatever it is..."

He laughed at her. "I know you think I'm messing with illegal shit, baby, but it's legit. I work with a parts dealer and sell to parts stores. I get a good commission off of it."

"Oh, thank heavens," she said and he burst out laughing.

"You know, it's sweet that you would be my friend even if I was into shit."

"Just don't get into it. Okay?"

"I won't. I'm going to miss you, B."

"No, you won't, Forks isn't far, you've been there before and I'm sure Elizabeth will want to see her favorite Uncle D."

I heard a soft laugh and a kiss. I came rushing into the room, almost spilling the waters I was bringing, only to find D kissing her forehead. "You take care, girl. I got a flight to catch."

I rolled over Bella's words in my head. I knew she was coming back to Forks with us. Carlisle had said that maybe the house not selling in Forks was a blessing in disguise. They also had an opening at the hospital in Forks since one of the doctors there was retiring, so he had a job waiting for him. He had put the house here in New York on the market as soon as he had gotten home from the hospital. He announced last night that they had gotten three offers already and I was to help get everything packed up.

Alice and Jasper had come to dinner, and Alice was pissed. They weren't happy about us going back to Forks, because they were going to Texas. Jasper had already talked to someone about getting his credits transferred down there. Alice was going with him, but she wasn't happy about it.

"You ruined EVERYTHING!" she shouted at me. "I was in line for an internship with a fashion designer! I was going to have a shot at my dream and you ruined it with your stupidity!"

She stormed out after that.

It was that night that Carlisle also dropped a bomb on us. He had called Chief Swan and he was coming out to help us move. When he had asked why we were moving back, Carlisle just had to be honest with him, damn it. I was certain that my acceptability points in his eyes were dropping rapidly.

Bella hadn't said anything about it since it was put out there. I could tell she was nervous about seeing her father. He knew she was pregnant so I was not sure why she was freaking out so bad. I didn't think she noticed me noticing her checking the calendar and looking freaked out. Her dad would be here tomorrow. If anyone should be freaking out, it was me. I was the one that had knocked up his baby girl and killed his wife.

Yeah, given everything, I would totally want to kill me if I was him.

a/n Thanks for reading please review.


	44. Chapter 44

SM owns it Dollybigmomma rocks it I just butcher it, I mean write it.

Chapter 44 Going home

BPOV

The night seemed extra long and it didn't help that the baby was keeping me up. I called Momma D and she did give me a few tips on how to keep Elizabeth awake. She was sleeping in four hour stints now so that was an improvement. I was a little better rested than before, but I wanted to look like I could handle things on my own when my dad showed up. As I looked now, well, I looked like I needed some major help.

Edward came in and brought me some breakfast. I pulled him over and kissed him lightly, thanking him. He really was a sweetheart. "You seem together this morning," I told him.

He let out a choking laugh, "No, I've just accepted that I'm going to die today."

I pushed my tray over and pulled him down next to me. "You're not dying today. I will not let my dad hurt the father of my baby."

"Fine, but um, you mind letting me hold her when he gets here?" he asked.

I just shook my head at him. "Fine," I finally conceded.

I took a few deep breaths. I was an adult. I was responsible, I was a mother. I took another deep breath. That fact alone was a bit startling. I was a mother. It was unbelievable and amazing at the same time. I kept looking at my daughter, loving her more than anything, but at the same time wondering when this babysitting job would be over. (A/N I felt that way with my first kid.)

I heard some scratching at the door and Edward walked over and let Max in. He had grown so much. I was surprised when he remembered me. He seemed confused by little Elizabeth. He was always trying to climb up the side of her basinet to get a better look at her. Luckily, it was loaded down with baby supplies on the bottom and that kept it from tipping over.

Edward picked up Max, scratching his head. "Hey, little man, Momma's busy." He walked over and sat next to us so Max could watch me care for our daughter. It didn't escape my notice how Edward relaxed with Max in his arms. I was right from day one; they were a good match for each other.

It was all too soon that Esme was coming to get us. Carlisle had just returned from the airport with my father. My father that I had not seen for months. I cradled my daughter close to me and Edward held onto Max tightly, forgetting that he wanted to hold our daughter when facing my father.

Carlisle was talking to Charlie, telling him that we would be headed back in a few days and that there was no need to get a room at a hotel, that there was plenty of room in the house.

I stepped silently into the room, but my father sensed me immediately and his stern face seemed to soften when he saw I was holding my daughter. He looked so pained and looked away. He turned and walked away from me, heading down the hall to the guest room that Carlisle had just given him directions to. It was in that moment that I wished he would have stopped and yelled at me. His silence hurt more than anything else right now.

Edward must have seen my disappointment and shocked us all by going after my father. "What the hell? Your daughter has been waiting to see you? Don't you want to see your granddaughter?" he snapped.

My father turned and glared hard at him and said, "I don't want to say anything that I'll regret," then he disappeared into his room.

I burst into tears, causing little Elizabeth to start crying as well. Edward came over, wrapping his arms around us and kissing my head softly. "Just give him time. He'll see how amazing our daughter is and she'll melt his heart."

The next morning, I woke to the slamming of a drawer. I sat up to see my father squishing the last of Elizabeth's clothes into a suitcase and mine was packed next to it. He looked up at me with an unhappy expression. "Get your baby, we're going home," he said and walked out of the room with the suitcases.

I jumped up and ran after him. "What are you talking about?" I asked as he threw the suitcases into the back of a waiting cab.

"We're leaving now, get your baby," he said walking past me.

"I'm not leaving," I said sternly.

He turned and looked at me hard. "Yes, you are. I'm not leaving you here with that idiot that provoked Barone."

"He's not an idiot."

"Yes, he is," Charlie snapped as he packed up Elizabeth's diaper bag. I think I was a little shocked that he knew what went into one.

"Take the tray up to Bella, dear, she usually wakes about now," I heard Esme say in the kitchen.

I turned to see Edward walking out. "I'm not leaving and you're not taking my baby, either. We're not going anywhere without Edward."

Charlie slammed the diaper bag down, shocking me. "Do you know what you've done?" he shouted at me. I didn't ever recall him raising his voice and it scared me a little. "You will stop your childish tantrum and get you stuff together now! We're leaving. I don't give a shit where that bastard ends up, but if he shows his face in Forks, he better pray I'm not armed. NOW GET IN THE CAR!"

"NO!" I was shocked to hear Edward speak up. "I will not let you talk to her like that or boss her around. She's an adult and a mother. She will leave when she's good and ready. If she wants to wait for the movers, then so be it. I will not have you talking to her like that."

"You will not…" Charlie shook his head and stomped over to Edward. Edward glared back just as hard, not budging. "You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, boy. I have a mind to call Barone and have him take care of you once and for all!"

"Daddy, no!" I had never heard my father speak like that. "I loved him!" I ran over, stepping in front of him. "I'll go, just don't hurt him, okay, I love him."

My father closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He turned away and grabbed the diaper bag. "Get your baby," he said one last time and walked out.

"Bella?" Edward sounded so pained.

"You're coming to Forks in a couple days anyway, right? This way we get out of harm's way faster. Maybe Elizabeth will work her magic on him. He can't hate you, Edward." He pulled me into his arms and I realized I was crying.

"It's going to be okay. It'll just be a couple of days. I'll be there as fast as I can. The movers are coming tomorrow and we'll be on the next flight out of town once they're done. You already know where we live." I took in a shuddering breath and he leaned down and kissed me softly. "See if you can convince him I'm not such a bad guy."

I laughed brokenly and kissed him again. "We'll miss you, travel safe and find us fast."

"Always."

Apparently, flying was not something Elizabeth enjoyed. She cried the whole flight, not endearing herself to my father at all. The woman behind me suggested breastfeeding to help her little ears and Charlie outright blanched at the idea. I got up and moved to an empty row and fed her in peace. Thankfully, the woman was right and Elizabeth settled down for the last hour of the flight.

My father didn't speak to me the whole drive back from Seattle to Forks. I didn't try and engage him in conversation because I didn't know what to say to him. We drove up to our little clapboard house and I took Elizabeth from her seat, taking in a breath of home for a first time in months.

She was relieved to be out of the seat and in my arms again. She opened her little eyes, trying to take in the sights around her as I walked inside. My father took our things to my room and came back down, standing awkwardly watching my daughter look around his home.

"She looks a lot like you," he finally said and I noticed him glance at a picture of my mom holding me as a baby.

"Yeah, I think she has a lot of mom in her, too," I said.

He looked at the floor, taking in a deep breath, "You both have a lot of your mom in you," he said wistfully. "I'm gonna order us some dinner," he said and walked out of room.

That night, I lay down with my baby girl in my old bed and wondered how Edward was doing. I missed him terribly.

EPOV

I was working my butt off. I packed up all that I could. Esme wanted to pack the fragile stuff herself because the movers had broken a few things in the last move. She had us busy and I couldn't help but pace like a madman when it finally came time to go to bed. Bella was gone. I looked at the little pink bassinette and frowned. My daughter was gone, too. I needed to be back with them. Max meowed at me and I took him down to the kitchen for some food.

Carlisle was sitting there looking over a list of to do things in Esme's handwriting. "So, what do we have left?" I asked.

He looked up at me and pulled out his keys. He started taking one of the keys off. "I'm sending you to Forks to open the house up and air it out. We'll need it stocked with food and necessities like toilet paper and soap as well."

"Really?"

"Yes, Esme doesn't want little Max to get caught up with the movers here, so you two are leaving in the morning before they get here."

I looked down at Max and smiled. He was a life saver and he didn't even know it. I didn't think I would have handled another night without Bella, as I was well in to this one and doing horribly. When Carlisle slid the printed out boarding pass to me, I couldn't help but smile. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "You keep your distance from the Chief, not Bella and your daughter, just the Chief," he said looking at me over his glasses.

"I know."

I picked Max up and ran up to my room. I would do my best to fall asleep. We were going to see our girls tomorrow!

The flight was long, much too long, but my chest seemed to loosen the closer I got to Bella. I rubbed it with the palm of my hand and the little old lady next to me offered me a Tums for my heartburn.

"I don't have heartburn, I'm just going home to my girl and I'm excited."

"Oh, how sweet," she said. "Your wife is lucky to be married to a man that misses her."

I blushed lightly. "We aren't married."

"Well, you better do it quick or you might end up missing her a whole lot more," she said and I let her words roll around in my head. She was right, with the likes of Demetri hovering around her and her father wanting to keep us apart I needed to stake my claim. They were my girls! No one else's!

I knew there was something I had to do before I got to Forks. Once the plane landed, I rented a car and looked up a few jewelry stores on my phone. I was getting my girl a ring. It took me longer than I wanted. I hated that my pickiness was keeping me from my girl, but I just had to get the right one for her. I did finally find it. It was perfect and beautiful.

I went speeding down the highway, craving to be close to my girl again. I had half a mind to ignore the red and blue lights that flashed behind me when I crossed into Forks. When I saw it was Chief Swan, I realized it would probably be best for me to keep my mouth shut. I knew Carlisle told me to avoid him, but what the hell was I supposed to do now?

When he saw it was me, he glared down at me as he wrote out the ticket. His eyes darted to the cat carrier in the seat next to me and then the bag from the jewelry store sitting on top of it. He narrowed his eyes at me as his face turned red. "I told you to stay the hell away from her!" he growled.

I tried to think of an answer to calm him down, but I decided to keep my mouth shut and not justify his empty threat with an answer. That or maybe he scared the piss out of me as I realized he was wearing his gun.

"I'll give you ten seconds to turn this car around and get the hell out of town or I'm taking you in for assaulting an officer."

"But I didn't…"

"You will, and I'll make it look like it wasn't self-defense," he threatened.

I wouldn't be able to get to Bella if I was stuck in Jail, so I just nodded and turned back up the road, heading out of town.

BPOV

My dad came home steaming mad and I wondered what happened. He usually wasn't so angry. Of course, it was my mother that tempered his hot head and now she was gone. Little Elizabeth took one look at him and started crying. "Don't glare at the baby, daddy," I said turning her away from him as she whimpered.

I heard him let out a big sigh.

"What's wrong? Is there a troublemaker in Forks?" I asked.

"I'll say," he grumbled.

I turned back looking at him surprised. Forks was the quietest place on earth. "What's going on?"

He looked down and away from me.

"What's going on?" I asked really starting to get worried.

He shook his head, "Nothing, just don't worry about it."

"Are we safe? I mean should I be checking the windows to be sure they're locked?"

He let out a huff, annoyed by my worry. "No, I said just let it go!"

"Why are you so riled up then?" I asked.

"Because I ran into Edward Cullen!" he growled and my heart stopped.

My eyes darted to his gun and up to his face. "You didn't."

"No, I told him to leave town," he snapped.

"Daddy, he's Elizabeth's father. You can't tell him to leave town." I was getting pissed. "I'm an adult, Charles Swan, and if you want to stay a grandpa, you'd better start acting like it."

"I didn't ask to be a grandpa!" he shouted at me.

That was enough. I grabbed my purse and diaper bag and walked out of the house.

"Where are you going?" he shouted after me.

"Home!"

Thankfully, I had Elizabeth overdressed and wrapped in blankets. I was a bit chilly myself as I headed out, walking the familiar route. If Edward was back, I would know where to find him.

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	45. Chapter 45

Keep in mind, folks, that Chief Swan is still grieving the loss of his wife, and Carlisle is…Carlisle. He and Esme have never really liked Bella much in this story.

SM owns it, dollybigmomma is my medicated beta, let's hope she gets better soon!

Chapter 45 Mistakes

BPOV

So I realized that my first mistake was leaving on foot. Yes, definitely a mistake in the winter. Thankfully, it wasn't snowing or raining right then, but that didn't mean the sky wouldn't open up any minute now. It did look rather ominous. My second mistake was overestimating how healed I was. I was only a week out from my c-section. I should definitely not have been walking over five miles to the Cullen home. I stopped and rested several times, regretting the way I left things but unable to go back to where I knew my daughter wasn't wanted. Besides, at this point, I was already halfway there. Halfway to Edward, halfway home. My third mistake was feeding the baby. I ended up making myself freezing cold and completely parched as I fed her while resting, trying and regain my strength. It was not looking good for me, but I had to keep going for my little girl.

It had taken me too long to get to their house. I left around noon and it was already getting dark. It was starting to get much colder than before. As I finally approached the Cullen's home, I saw a car parked out front and hoped that it was Edward's. I noticed it had rental plates and I was pretty sure it was. I knocked on the front door and leaned on it exhausted. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have left like I did. I should have stopped and called a damn cab before I left the house or something, but no, I had to be overdramatic and walk out in a fit of rage, albeit justified at the time, at least in my mind. My father was right, though, I was throwing a tantrum and I was being immature. However, his behavior had been no better, sparking my protective mother instincts.

I realized it had been a while since I had knocked and there was still no answer. I groaned in pain and frustration. I slid down the door and sat for a moment before I remembered that Edward's room was sound proofed, he wouldn't hear me knock.

I rested for a moment and then geared up to walk around to the back of the house where his room was. I cried in relief when I saw his light was on and nearly fell into the windowpane. He heard the thud of me hitting the side of the house and shot up from his bed, running over to me, opening the window immediately.

"Bella! Oh, my god, how did you get here?" he asked as I shoved Elizabeth into his arms before I collapsed on the ground under his window. It was moments later that he was out lifting me off the ground and carrying me inside. "You're freezing, Bella! What did you do, walk here?"

He tucked me into his bed, trying to warm me, but I was asleep before I could answer him.

EPOV

Bella was at my window, where she passed me my pink-cheeked baby girl and then disappeared from sight. I quickly situated Elizabeth into the middle of my bed and then ran outside to find her collapsed on the ground and freezing cold. I didn't know how she had gotten here and I was worried that she had walked. It was starting to look like she had done just that.

I called Carlisle and he groaned and rudely told me to take the silly girl to the ER. I was starting to freak out, especially when Bella fell asleep and then didn't wake up. I carried her to my car, placing her in the back seat and then ran back to get my baby girl. I didn't have a car seat, but I didn't want to lose Bella, either.

I laid little Elizabeth on the seat next to me and kept my hand on her as I drove. She fussed and squirmed but stayed in place. I picked her up and ran into the ER, telling them I needed help. They came out and moved Bella out of the back seat for me. I told them what I knew of her health, that she had just had a c-section a week ago and that I thought she had walked from her father's house to mine, over five miles. They took her back, leaving me truly alone with my little girl for the first time. She looked up at me with her beautiful newborn blue eyes and made a squawking noise, not really crying, just making a noise like she was trying to talk to me. I spoke softly to her, trying to let her soothe my nerves and distract me from what was going on.

A nurse came over and asked if everything was alright with my baby. I told her I thought so, but decided that it wouldn't hurt to have the baby checked out. It turned out that being out in the cold for so long did give Elizabeth a stuffy nose and the nurse taught me how to clean it out. She was too little to use a decongestant on so a booger sucker and saline was what the nurse taught me to use. Elizabeth screamed through the whole process, upsetting me more than it did her. The nurse stood by patting my back, reassuring me I was doing fine and that once her little nose was taken care of, she would be happier. The poor little thing nearly screamed herself hoarse, but she was finally cleaned out and quickly fell asleep, exhausted from fighting with me. I snuggled her close, needing to hold and comfort her as much as she needed me.

"Could you tell me how her mother is doing? I brought her in, but I haven't heard anything yet."

"Are you family?" she asked.

"I'm the father of her daughter and I have a ring." I pulled it out of my pocket to show her the engagement ring. I had been playing with before they showed up at my window.

"Let me go check on Ms. Swan. I'll let her know you're here and find out if she wants to see you." I was anxious as the nurse disappeared down the hallway. She came back with a wide smile. "She's awake and doing well. She's happy you're here. Follow me."

I hurried down the hall with my sleeping little girl. It was like little Elizabeth sensed her mother was near because as soon as we entered, she woke up and started to fuss.

"Looks like someone wants her mommy," the nurse said.

There was some sort or plastic warm air blanket over Bella and she had an IV as well. She was looking better.

"Well? How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm okay. I luckily didn't tear my incision, they're just warming me up and hydrating me before I can go back home."

"You're coming home with me, right?" I asked like a wussy.

She smiled brightly. "Yes, I'm coming home with you."

I let out a sigh of relief. "So, when did they plan on releasing you?"

"Tomorrow sometime, I think. They wanted to watch my incision to be sure they didn't miss anything."

"Better safe than sorry," I agreed.

The nurse butted in. "Her next of kin has been called. Her father should be here soon."

The heart monitor sped up and I walked over to my girl, taking her hand and kissing her head. "Bella, what happened?" I asked.

She shook her head upset. "I don't want to see him."

I looked up at the nurse. "Can you keep him away from her? He's the reason she's here," I growled.

The nurse looked confused and headed for the door. "I'll see what I can do."

I watched as Bella's eyes started to water. "I don't want to stay here, Edward."

I gripped her hand. "Marry me. Marry me and we'll move up to Seattle so we can finish school."

She looked at me wide-eyed. I pulled the ring from my pocket and she smiled. "Really? You really want to marry me?"

I nodded yes. "The question is; do you want to marry me?"

She let out a laugh and nodded yes. I slipped the ring on her finger kissing her softly. "How soon do you want to do it?" I asked.

She smiled, "As soon as possible."

"Tomorrow it is," I said smiling. I would run down and get the marriage license as soon as the place opened. I was sure the hospital chaplain wouldn't mind performing the service for us.

BPOV

I had the most beautiful ring on my finger. Edward asked me to marry him and he seemed so anxious to get it done fast. I had to admit, so was I. So when he walked in with a marriage license and the hospital chaplain, I couldn't help but laugh. "You weren't kidding."

"Nope," he said kissing our daughter's head. "You're mine, Isabella Swan, and I don't ever want to be without you again. We're getting married and we're going to make a life for our little family," he said and leaned over and kissed me.

A couple of nurses came in and acted as witnesses, and when the chaplain pronounced us husband and wife, they clapped and whistled excitedly. At lunch, one of them brought us some cake to feed to each other and it was perfect.

Later in the evening, Edward stayed with me well past visiting hours because he was now my husband. I felt giddy as he snuggled next to me. My oxygen count was a bit low or something so the doctor wanted to keep an eye on me a little longer. I told him I felt fine and he reminded me I was on pain medicine. Yeah, I was kind of glad that was going on.

Edward impressed me with his booger sucking skills. Not mine or his, but the baby's. He was really getting the hang of taking care of our little girl. Edward had just finished up cleaning out her little nose so she could nurse when Carlisle came walking in. He frowned as he looked over my chart and then scowled down at me, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed my wedding rings. "So, Charlie tells me you threw another tantrum and stormed rudely out of his house, landing yourself in the hospital and now you don't want to see him."

Edward stood up immediately. "I don't know what he said to upset her or why you're here, but if you talk down to my wife again, I won't call security to escort you out, I'll throw you out myself."

My chest swelled with pride for my husband. I had a husband.

Carlisle shook his head at him glaring. "I can't believe you actually married her, Edward. What were you thinking? I haven't even gotten the paternity test results back yet."

"You took a paternity test?" Edward asked shocked.

"It was in your best interest, Edward. You're going to be fairly wealthy when your trust kicks in. You're still young and very good looking so you could have easily found someone who was your equal, someone worthy of the Cullen name, and yet you've gone and thrown it all away for some small town white trash and her bastard child. It's pathetic."

Edward shot across the room enraged, grabbing Carlisle by his coat and hurled him out of my room onto his ass and slammed the door. I didn't realize I was crying until Edward was wiping my tears away. "Don't cry, Bella, he's a narrow-minded, pretentious prick and always has been. He's got his head so far up his ass he has no clue how truly shitty he is. We'll be fine, baby. We don't need them. We have each other and that's all we need. That's all I need," he said and kissed my lips lightly.

The next morning, we were released. Edward had picked up a car seat, thankfully. He drove us over to my father's house while he was at work so we could pick up our two little suitcases, and then we headed for the Cullen's house. Demetri was expecting us that night, with promise of a care package from Momma D. He insisted we stay with him until we got our own apartment, hopefully by the end of the month.

Esme saw us pull up and looked worried as we walked in. I kept Elizabeth tight in my arms, finding strength in being her mother.

"Why didn't you bring your bags in, dear? Edward, where are her bags?" Esme asked looking flustered.

"We aren't staying here; you can ask your husband why when he gets home."

"No, no, please. I'll fix it, whatever it is, I swear I'll fix it," she begged and I saw tears start falling down her face.

I actually felt bad for her and walked over and hugged her. She held me tightly and sobbing into my shoulder. Edward came back with Max on his heels, pulling his suitcases behind him and carrying Max's empty cat carrier.

"Edward, please," she cried.

"Did you know about the paternity test?" he asked coldly.

She looked taken aback. "I, I, I," she stuttered and he shook his head at her, heading for the door. "No, wait," she called after him. "I wanted to open a trust for Elizabeth. Carlisle refused until her paternity was proven. Edward, please, I'm sorry."

He tucked Max into his carrier and then went out and put his suitcases into the trunk of his car, placing the cat carrier on the back seat next to the Elizabeth's car seat.

"Edward," I spoke softly, "It wasn't her fault, she didn't say those horrible things about me, he did."

Edward lowered his head to the edge of the car, taking in a deep breath. He walked over to Esme and hugged her. "I'm sorry, we can't stay here. After the way he treated Bella…Esme, she's my wife," he said pleading with her to understand why we had to go. She sobbed openly, but nodded okay, hugging him again. "You're welcome to come and visit once we get settled, Esme. Just leave your asshat of a husband at home," he spat.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," Esme gasped between sobs.

I walked up teary-eyed and hugged her, squishing little Elizabeth between us. "Thank you for all your help, Esme," I said and kissed her cheek. "Say bye-bye to grandma Esme, Elizabeth, we'll see her again soon," I said trying to give her hope and she smiled through her tears, kissing Elizabeth's little head.

We tucked our baby into her car seat and headed for Seattle, ready to find our new home and start our future together.

A/N thanks for reading please review.


	46. Chapter 46

Here it is, the epi!

Thanks for sticking with me and as always SM owns it, Dollybigmomma freaking rocks it and I just write it!

Chapter 46 Not so bad

EPOV

Going to stay with Demetri was not my idea, but when Bella suggested it, she was already picking up the phone and calling him. In the end, we needed somewhere to stay and it would be best if it was in Seattle so we could actually look for a place of our own there.

When we arrived, he helped me bring the suitcases in and set them by our bedroom door. I kind of smiled at the fact that he wasn't going in. I picked up my girl and carried her up the stairs. She needed to be taking it easy and when she protested, I insisted that I needed to carry my bride over a threshold. Thankfully, she found it endearing.

Bella was to stay in bed and rest for a few days. The doctor didn't want her up and about, as he was worried to much exposure to the outside would cause pneumonia to flare up in her lungs. That would be really bad, as her body was already fighting to heal itself from her c-section.

It turned out living with Demetri wasn't so bad. Apparently, there was some unwritten rule he had about never entering a married couple's bedroom and since Bella was stuck in bed, he did most of his interacting with me.

Turned out Demetri wasn't a bad guy at all. He was happy that we were married and always called himself Uncle D. He helped out with Elizabeth a lot, but he always let me take the lead. It was great, like having a live in nanny. A townhouse two doors down from him became available and we decided to rent it. He was thrilled, and so 'Uncle D', as he proclaimed himself, was our official babysitter.

When the time came for us to register for classes, Elizabeth was about six months old. We decided to stagger our classes so one of us could always be with her. That was until Bella found out that her husband having a trust fund made it impossible for her to get grants. Well, at least not the grants and funding she'd had before; she no longer qualified for them, and unfortunately, the trust payout was only enough for one person to go to school and cover our living expenses. I ended up convincing her that she should be the one to go, as she actually had a career goal and my career goal had been shot to hell by my recklessness. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do anymore, and so Bella went to school and I stayed home with our daughter.

Needless to say, Carlisle had a shit fit when he found out I was putting my wife through school. Esme, on the other hand, moved into the townhouse between Demetri and us. After the paternity test had come back proving Elizabeth was mine, she had called Carlisle a few choice words and thrown herself into helping me care for our little girl. Momma D also came to visit Demetri, and she and Esme hit it off instantly. What I didn't realize was that Momma D kept Demetri's father on a tightly controlled leash and she gave Esme a few valuable pointers on how to handle her man.

It was at our daughter's first birthday that we started to see a change in Carlisle Cullen. He showed up unannounced and uninvited carrying a huge pink rocking horse with wings. It had Elizabeth's name painted on the side. I was about to throw him out when Esme interrupted my descent upon him. "Did you make this?" she asked in awe and I suddenly wondered if he could make something like this. I found myself looking a little closer at the fine workmanship.

"Yes," Carlisle said sheepishly.

I looked up at him surprised. "I didn't know you did woodworking."

He frowned. "I haven't in a very long time."

"Oh, Carlisle," Esme said hugging him. He put the horse down and hugged her tightly. They were both crying. I wasn't sure why, but Bella smiled and helped Elizabeth take a few shaky steps to the horse. She patted it excitedly.

I later found out that the last thing he'd made was a cradle that he and Esme never got to use. He'd lost the comfort he got from woodworking after that. That was until he made this winged horse for my daughter.

He secured the safety guard and belt around my little girl and smiled at her for the second time in his life as she jabbered excitedly at him. She kicked wildly as she squealed and rocked the sparkly horse.

It was two months later that he moved in with Esme and became our neighbor and a doting grandpa.

Alice finally came around with the help of Jasper. Much to his parent's dismay, they ended up moving to Paris for her 'career.' In the end, though, she wasn't happy. They finally moved back to Texas where they settled down and had a little boy named Nathan. She visited Carlisle and Esme for the holidays and she finally cracked under pressure, forgiving me for ruining her life in New York in a hormonal mess of tears. She found out a week after they had left that she was pregnant with their second child which would be a boy named Ephraim.

Charlie was a more difficult matter to solve. Bella had told me that it was Renee that really had always tempered his tough exterior and with her gone, she didn't know how to approach him. She missed her father, but she couldn't in good conscience expose our daughter to such an angry bitter man. She finally told me what he had said that had set her off and I agreed with her abrupt departure that day. I concluded that Charles Swan was just a bitter old man.

What surprised me was the sudden appearance of a birthday card from Mr. Grump himself. It was for Bella and came two days before her birthday. I looked at it worried, hoping that it didn't upset her. Of course, all my worrying was very anticlimactic. It was just a normal birthday card that he had signed no message in, no nothing; just _Love, Dad_.

In response to her birthday card, Bella sent him one when his birthday came the following month. Just two short months later, we received another one. This one was for Elizabeth's second birthday. It was a pink sparkly castle and had a savings bond in it. It simply said _Love, Grandpa Charlie_ in it.

This reduced my Bella to tears. She quickly wrote him a letter and sent pictures of our daughter in return. It was slow going, but by her third birthday, Grandpa Charlie was present with a smile and holding something behind his back. He was looking oddly mischievous at Carlisle, but it all made sense when they brought out their gifts together. Carlisle had made her a doll house and Charlie had gotten her the family and furniture to go in it. Elizabeth absolutely adored it.

Bella was in her last year of school when Charlie asked me what I wanted to do for a living. I had told him that I wanted to go into law enforcement on the legal side of things, but my instincts weren't that good so I was at a loss. Charlie suggested I go into the police academy. Turned out his deputy would be retiring soon and he could use another man to take his place. He thought my instincts were good enough for Forks.

Bella was half way through her last year in school when she told me something exciting and scary all at the same time. She was pregnant again. We were having another baby and this time I would be around for it. She still planned on going to school and finishing off her degree. She was thankfully due a month after graduation so her goal would be met. I had talked to her about what her father suggested and she surprised me by kissing me and telling me that it was a great idea. Apparently, some of her favorite animal patients were in Forks and the vet she used to work with there had offered her a place in her practice.

I was nervous about telling Esme and Carlisle about us moving again, but they just smirked and Esme said, "See, I told you the house didn't sell for a reason."

Carlisle had retired, so moving back to Forks after I finished at the police academy was easy for them. Uncle D was sorry to see us go, but his new bride, Jane, was filling the void. They were expecting their first baby. D was insisting it was a girl. It would be interesting to see if he was right again.

He also was predicting that Bella would have a boy and she did. I wondered if D was into fortune telling. Our son, Edward Cullen III, was named after my dad. He looked a lot like my father as well, meaning he looked a lot like me. Bella would strap him to her back as she worked at the vet office. Elizabeth was already in pre-K and I was sitting outside the school in a patrol car just because I could.

Charlie smirked the first time he caught me doing it and told me he used to do the same thing all the time. He also introduced me to several elderly folks in Forks that lived alone. He never outright said it to them, but he checked on them every week and you could tell they both looked forward to it. He told me once that it was important to look in on them because otherwise something bad could happen. He spoke of finding some of them having fallen or in trouble and no one came to help. It was his instincts that made him visit them that day and find them before they were too far gone to be helped.

I told him that I didn't think I had very good instincts, and like he always did when I told him that, he just patted my shoulder and said I had enough for Forks.

My little salary and Bella's vet work had us living comfortably in a little three bedroom house. We weren't rich like Carlisle. I was not what you would even consider 'successful,' but I was definitely happy. I was married to the most beautiful, loving woman in the world. I had two close to perfect kids, and I had a family that loved me. I looked over at an old picture of my parents and smiled. I got it now. I had finally gotten what my parents had known all along; that success, money, and status didn't equal happiness. It was love and family, and being content with what we had that really mattered.

And what we had was truly beautiful.

THE END

A/N so there it is, the happy ending. Please leave a review and come check out my new story that I am starting called **The Devils Path**. I will warn you that you have not seen Bad ass Edward until you seen him here. He is a convict and he is guilty and bad. There is violence and people sensitive to rape might not like it. There is no rape in it just references to it. So my lovelies, I am off to the Devils Path, I hope you follow.


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